Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) – Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the term used to refer to the death of an infant or young child for no apparent reason. It occurs mainly in the initial sleep phases and mainly affects small children in their first year of life.

What is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)?

In industrialized countries, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the most common cause of death in small children after the first sources of danger after birth have been eliminated. Only around 6% of crib deaths occur after the first year of life. In English, the unexpected death of a child without any apparent cause is known as the “sudden infant death syndrome” (SIDS).

SIDS is not a disease, but rather a diagnosis made by the doctor after the death of the deceased infant. Sudden infant death is still a challenge for research today. In Germany and Austria, the risk rate is around 0.04%. On average, male infants are affected more often than females. The period of danger is mainly in winter, even if no direct connection between crib death and the time of year could be drawn. Statistically, infant death occurs in a large proportion of cases before the age of six months.

causes

Sudden infant death is characterized above all by a cause of death that is difficult or impossible to explain. Despite this, there are apparent risk factors that can put SIDS at risk. These include, on the one hand, a low birth weight of the child or premature births, but also external circumstances such as the mother’s drug use and her age. In addition, a sibling who died early also appears to be one of the risk factors.

Other factors can include sleeping on your stomach or low airflow in the room. Doctors also consider passive smoking and the mother’s refusal to breastfeed to be beneficial factors. One point of discussion is whether sharing the bed with parents is associated with SIDS. If the infants have already survived a life-threatening event or show longer breathing pauses during sleep ( sleep apnea ), the risk is just as increased as in young mothers who have not yet reached the age of 20.

So far, it has been assumed that there is a complex interplay of various factors that influence or promote sudden infant death. These include developmental abnormalities that affect the child’s breathing or interfere with blood pressure regulation. Experts suspect a connection between these disorders and the above factors that endanger the life of the child.

There is research on the drop in blood pressure during infant sleep, which the infant’s body may not be able to cope with. That said, in some cases, researchers have identified defects in the brainstem that block carbon dioxide sensing. When this happens, children who sleep on their stomachs can have deadly levels of carbon dioxide in their bloodstream .

symptoms and course

There are no first symptoms. Only the range of risk factors and possible conducive causes can be a first warning. If your own child belongs to the risk group, the parents should take preventive measures and eliminate risk factors as far as possible. Once SIDS has set in, no doctor can save the child.

Diagnose

In most cases, the diagnosis is made by a pediatrician and a pathologist. Depending on the case, a forensic doctor may also be consulted. This is especially the case when the manner of death is unclear and there is a suspicion of external influence. When examining the infant, the doctor will not find any signs of illness or foreign influence.

An autopsy therefore remains inconclusive and it is a pure diagnosis of exclusion. All possible causes of accidents such as drowning or hypothermia can be ruled out by the examiner, as can infections, bleeding or malformations. This fact always poses a problem for medicine. Only in some cases can the doctor trace the above risk factors back to the individual case.

treatment and therapy

There is no treatment or therapy for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

prevention

However, parents can take some measures to prevent sudden infant death syndrome. This includes a smoke-free environment on the one hand and a bedroom temperature between 16 and 18 degrees Celsius on the other. The child’s mattress should always be air-permeable. In addition, parents should make sure that the child lies on its back when sleeping. This minimizes the risk of losing your child to carbon dioxide excess.

Apart from that, doctors recommend that the mother breastfeed the baby for the first six months – if she can. On the other hand, doctors advise against wearing a hat or additional blankets in the baby’s bed. If possible, parents should accommodate the infant in their bedroom. For example, any breathing pauses can be noticed in good time.

Dorothy Farrar

Hello and welcome to my Health Guide & Encyclopedia! My name is Dorothy Farrar, and I'm the founder and main author of this platform.
My passion for health and wellness started at a young age when I became interested in the connection between the food we eat and the way we feel. This fascination led me to study nutrition and dietetics in college, where I learned about the importance of a balanced diet and the impact of various nutrients on the body.

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