Mr. Ferniz,
You're right that there is no clear and established cause for SIDs, pero there have been studies. The following is a study by the Mayo Clinic in the United States, the leading medical think tank in the region.
CausesOver the years, researchers have investigated and ruled out a number of possible causes of sudden infant death syndrome, including suffocation, vomiting or choking, birth defects, metabolic abnormalities, and infection.
Exactly why SIDS occurs remains elusive, but many experts believe there are probably multiple factors that cause SIDS. For example, it's likely that an infant must have some sort of biological vulnerability, such as a heart or brain defect, combined with an environmental stressor, such as stomach sleeping, before SIDS can occur.
These things must also occur during a critical developmental period in the baby's life, typically during the first six months. These three factors — vulnerability, critical developmental period and outside stressor — combine to form what's known as the triple-risk model.
Research offers clue
In 2006, researchers discovered that abnormalities in a part of the brain that helps control breathing and arousal likely play a role in SIDS. Other research has focused on the way babies breathe while they're asleep — especially their response to low blood oxygen levels (hypoxia) — and on heart function.
Researchers are also continuing to investigate the link between SIDS and long QT syndrome, a subtle electrical disturbance in the heart that causes sudden, extremely rapid heart rates. A 2007 study found that almost one in 10 babies who died of SIDS had a genetic defect in one of the genes responsible for long QT syndrome. If you have a history of SIDS in your family, your doctor will want to check for the presence of long QT syndrome in your infant. This can usually be done withanelectrocardiogram (ECG) and confirmed, if necessary, with genetic studies.
One thing that is known is that childhood immunizations don't play a role in sudden infant death syndrome. After reviewing the available evidence in 2005, the American Academy of Pediatrics concluded that vaccines don't increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.
Risk factors
Although sudden infant death syndrome can strike any infant, researchers have identified several factors that may increase a baby's risk. At higher risk are babies who are:
* Male. Boy babies are more likely to die of SIDS than girl babies are.
* Between 1 and 6 months of age. Infants are most vulnerable in the second and third months of life.
* Premature or of low birth weight. Your baby is more susceptible to SIDS if he or she was premature or had a low birth weight.
* Black or American Indian. For reasons that aren't well understood, race appears to play a role in SIDS. Cultural differences in child care practices — such as whether babies are placed to sleep on their backs — may be a factor.
* Placed to sleep on their stomachs. Babies who sleep on their stomachs are much more likely to die of SIDS than are babies who sleep on their backs. At highest risk are babies who are used to sleeping on their backs and are suddenly switched to stomach sleeping. At one time, doctors recommended stomach sleeping because babies rest more soundly in that position. But it's now known that stomach sleeping greatly increases a baby's risk.
* Born to mothers who smoke or use drugs. Smoking cigarettes during or after your pregnancy puts your baby at considerably higher risk of SIDS. Using drugs such as cocaine, heroin or methadone while you're pregnant also increases the risk.
* Exposed to environmental tobacco smoke. Infants exposed to secondhand smoke have a higher risk of SIDS.
* Born in the fall or winter months. More SIDS cases occur when the weather is cooler.
Also at risk are babies whose mothers had:
* Inadequate prenatal care
* Placental abnormalities — such as placenta previa, a condition where the placenta lies low in the uterus, sometimes covering the opening of the cervix
* Low weight gain during pregnancy
* Their first pregnancy at a young maternal (under 20)
Source: Mayo ClinicLink: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sudden-infant-death-syndrome/DS00145/DSECTION=2Linkback:
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