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An essay on sudden infant death syndrome
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Abstract
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome remains the leading cause of post-neonatal mortality (under the age of one) in developed countries. The causes of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome have been puzzling and research is being conducted to solve this catastrophic problem. Having a child under the age of one makes me very concerned, along with any other parent(s), that the possibility of SIDS could affect any infant at anytime, SIDS does not discriminate. I am seeking to find the possible causes to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome so in the future deaths could be avoided.
Researchers have studied the many possible causes of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and four have been selected for this paper.
The first study addressed the effects of an infant’s sleeping position and other prenatal risks associated with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The SIDS victims were matched with four control groups of the same gender, age and place of birth.
The second study researched the possible correlation between the brain weights of SIDS victims at death to those infants that died of other causes, only when the brain had not been damaged. The study took place between the years of 1980 and 2003 within the same local population.
In the third study medical and demographic characteristics where analyzed among infants that were 24 to 32 week’s gestation weighing 500 to 2500 grams of SIDS victims and non SIDS victims. The researchers attempted to find a correlation between the two groups of preterm infants.
The fourth study was conducted to investigate a possible correlation between the postnatal growths preceding Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In this particular study the victims of SIDS were matched with two controls of the same age. The research was collected by parental interview review of medical records and body weights.
Finally, I will review the findings, compare the four studies and illustrate my conclusions and provide my personal synthesis. I hope to gain knowledge and insight into the possible causes of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
First Study Summary
SIDS and Sleeping Position and Prenatal Care
Oyen, N., Markestad, T., Skaerven, R., Irgens, L.M., Helweh-Larsen, K., Alm, B., Norvenius, G., Wennergren, G. (1998). Combined Effects of Sleeping Position and Prenatal Risk Factors in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: The Nordic Epidemiological SI...
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... SIDS. Through the research provided, I concluded that when a baby is born preterm their brain, along with many other internal organs, is not as fully developed as that of an infant that had reached full gestation. I believe that these studies concerning SIDS address only a small portion of the larger problem and that there needs to be more research done to narrow down the causes.
References
Brooks, J.G., Gilbert, R.E., Flemming, P.J., Berry, P.J., Golding, J. (1996). Postnatal Growth Preceding Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Journal of Chiropractic Technique, 94, 456-459.
Kadhim, Hazim., (2005). Incongruent Cerebral Growth in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Journal of Child Neurology, 20, 244-246.
Malloy, Michael H. (2004). Sudden Infant Death Syndrome among Extremely Preterm Infants: United States 1997 – 1999. Journal of Perinatology, 24, 181-187.
Oyen, N., Markestad, T., Skaerven, R., Irgens, L.M., Helweh-Larsen, K., Alm, B., Norvenius, G., Wennergren, G. (1998). Combined Effects of Sleeping Position and Prenatal Risk Factors in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: The Nordic Epidemiological SIDS Study. Journal of Manipulative & Physiological Therapeutics, 21, 614-621.
Uebel, P. (1999). A case study of antenatal distress and consequent neonatal respiratory distress. Neonatal Network. 18 (5). 67-70
There is a low susses rate for a child of a maternal brain dead mother for the baby to live. When a woman is declared brain dead they are sent for burial or other final respects. In this case, however, the woman is pregnant and there is a fetus to think about. The problem lies with the susses rate of the child be born or being born without any complications. There are only 5 reported successful cases of brain death births (Lsaacson et al. 1996). The body at this point is just used for an incubator for the unborn child. The rate for the child to come out with no complications or in the body of the mother to produce complications is less than 10% (Lsaacson et al. 1996). Knowing all of this, why would one want to put their body through all of this for such a low success rate with current medical technologies.
First of all, it is necessary to understand some of the important features of this syndrome (Naeye, 1976). As mentioned initially, SIDS deaths occur in infants ages one month to one year. Also, 90% to 95% of these infants die during sleep, and most of these deaths are silent. One-third to one-half of the SIDS victims have been found to have a mild infection (normally respiratory in nature) prior to death. SIDS has also been found to be in part associated with a low socioeconomic status, and it is more common among non-whites. Although SIDS seems to be associated with a low socioeconomic status, SIDS is not caused by malnutrition. A more recent article also reported that more male infants were victims of SIDS than females ( Becker 361 ). Finally, SIDS has been more often associated with prematurely born infants. This seems to suggest that developmental immaturity may present a likely situation for the development of SIDS. Each of these characteristics must be considered when forming hypotheses for the possible cause of SIDS.
From year to year, the number of SIDS deaths tends to remain constant despite fluctuations in the overall number of infant deaths. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) report...
…The infant had been born with anencephaly, or lack of cranial development. The infant’s skull was an open sore that the nurses packed and layered with gauze to give his face a round appearance. Because of lack of cerebral hemispheres, the infant was incapable of any conscious activity. After his birth, the infant was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit and placed in a bassinet. He was reported to be kicking and breathing, and his ...
We know babies die from SIDS and they have been looking high and low for a cause. Everyone seems to want a neat and tidy answer to what has happened to these babies, and I understand why. I believe co-sleeping has been given a bad reputation because people need something to blame and not based on actual scientific evidence. Dr. William Sears suggests that, “In those infants at risk for SIDS, natural mothering [unrestricted breastfeeding and sharing sleep with baby] will lower the risk of SIDS” (Sears, "Cosleeping and Biological Imperatives").... ...
There are multiple definitions for SIDS, otherwise known as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. According to the textbook Essentials of Human Diseases and Conditions by Margaret Frazier and Jeanette Drzymkowski, this disease is defined as “the sudden and unpredicted death of an infant under the age of one year”. Another source, the Ohio Department of Health describes it as “the sudden death of an infant less than one year of age, which remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including performance of a thorough autopsy, investigation of the death scene and a evaluation of the clinical history”. Although there are numerous explanations as to what this particular disease is, one thing remains a certain constant: the ultimate outcome of this disorder is death.
a baby ranging from low birth weight and abnormalities to death. There are a few government
Infants go through many changes in their first two years of life. All are very important and should be monitored, but the physical change in an infant is the most noticeable change. By the
Umberto de Vonderweid, Marialisa Leonessa, Family centered neonatal care, Early Human Development, Volume 85, Issue 10, Supplement 1, Proceedings and selected abstracts from 1st International Conference on Clinical Neonatology Torino, Italy, November 2009, October 2009, Pages S37-S38, ISSN 0378-3782, DOI: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2009.08.009.
Reddy, U. M., Zhang, J., Sun, L., Chen, Z., Raju, T. N., & Laughon, K. (2012). Neonatal mortality by attempted route of delivery in early preterm birth. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 207(2). doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2012.06.023
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the most frequent cause of death between 1 month and 1 year of age (Naeye). SIDS is defined as the sudden death of any infant or young child that is unexpected by it’s history, and in which a thorough postmortem examination fails to determine an adequate cause (Hunt 1987). It is important to consider both aspects of this definition in order not to ‘overdiagnose’ SIDS. A mistake of this nature would occur with failure to report a previous history of seizures, or if at the time of the autopsy a differentiation between suffocation due to rebreathing and SIDS was not made (Kemp 1993). One of the major characteristics of SIDS is that of ‘silent death’, which occurs during a sleep period. The majority of SIDS cases are between 1-6 months, with the peak occurrence being between 2-4 months. Boys are affected more often than girls (Becker, 1990).
Wisborg, K., Kesmodel, U., Tine, B. H., Sjurdur, F. O., & Secher, N. J. (2000). A prospective study of smoking during pregnancy and SIDS. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 83(3), 203-6. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/196895386?accountid=41057
The risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome triples if the mother has smoked during pregnancy. “It is estimated that twenty-five percent of expectant mothers in the U.S. smoke throughout their pregnancies. According to a report from the Surgeon General, twenty percent of low birth weight births, either percent of preterm deliveries and five percent of all perinatal could be prevented by eliminating smoking during pregnancy.”
Preterm birth is defined as ‘any neonate whose birth occurs before the thirty seventh week of gestation’1 and represents approximately eight percent of all pregnancies1-4. It is eminent that these preterm infants are at risk of physical and neurological delay, with prolonged hospitalisation and an increased risk of long-term morbidity evident in prior literature3, 5-13. Innovative healthcare over the past thirty years has reduced mortality significantly14, with the survival rate of preterm infants having increased from twenty five percent in 1980 to seventy three percent in 200715. Despite, this drop in mortality long-term morbidity continues to remain within these surviving infants sparking a cause for concern15, 16.