Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Causes and Risk Factors

Undoubtedly, the 21st century will enter our history as one of the most significant for medical science. To date, many different vaccines have been obtained from previously incurable and dangerous diseases. But, to the great regret, doctors still have many mysteries. One of which is the sudden infant death syndrome.

Syndrome of sudden death of an infant is an unexpected death of an infant, occurring in most cases at night or in the early morning in a dream. And the obligatory subsequent autopsy does not reveal absolutely no visible pathology, and there is no explanation for death. Pathologists sometimes fix only minor deviations, in particular from the lungs, the central nervous system and the upper respiratory tract. But each of these deviations is not enough to lead to death. In other words, a healthy child dies, and doctors do not find any significant pathomorphological changes that could explain the cause of the tragedy.

According to statistics, the syndrome of sudden death in children occurs most often at the age of several weeks to six months. Scientists all over the world have been fighting for a dozen years over the phenomenon of sudden death. To date, researchers have only assumptions and hypotheses. Some scholars are inclined to believe that most of the parents whose child died from sudden death syndrome were suffering from peptic ulcer disease, or were carriers of the Helicobacter bacterium that causes the disease. The presence of Helicobacter bacteria in the body does not always lead to an ulcer, in people with good immunity, even no symptoms may appear. While for the baby of the first months of life, these bacteria, or, more accurately, contact with them, can end tragically. Infection of the baby occurs through a spoon or pacifier. Familiar for many mothers gestures: before giving a nipple to a baby, lick it, check the temperature of the mixture, trying it on the taste - in the opinion of this group of scientists, can lead to tragic consequences.

Another hypothesis, the so-called "gene", is based on DNA studies of children who have had a sudden infant death syndrome. The deceased kids showed some defects in the genome sites, which are responsible for immunity. The syndrome of sudden death of newborns has been under investigation for many years, and although there is no unity among the medical scientists about the specific causes of this disease, they managed to identify "dangerous" factors and suggest that the cases of child deaths that cause the sudden infant death syndrome are possible Reduce.

The main risk factors were:

- a dream on the stomach;

- prematurity (premature birth);

- smoking of the mother during breastfeeding;

- Overheating.

The main condition for the prevention of this phenomenon was named the correct organization of a newborn's sleep. At the age of up to six months, the baby's heart rhythm and breathing are not completely stable. At the time of sleep, which at this stage of life takes most of the day, all vital functions decrease, and sometimes physiologically caused breathing pauses occur.

The main task of parents is to remove any obstacles to the arrival of air masses: a pillow, in which the baby can bury, a heavy and dense blanket, in which the crumb can get confused. It should be remembered that the mattress for the newborn must be rigid so that the child's head does not leave any depressions in it.

It should also be ensured that the child does not overheat. Since in this case the brain activity worsens, in particular, the control of the center of breathing starts to lose control, which, of course, is very dangerous. It must be remembered that the recommended temperature in the children's room should not be more than 22 degrees C.