A recent study has found a possible cause for what is known as “sudden infant death”, in efforts to explain the incomprehensible death of thousands of infants annually in the United States.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 3,400 babies die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) every year across the United States, while scientists are still searching for its causes, reports Al-Rai daily.
Now a study led by researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School suggests that some unexplained deaths may be caused by a defect in the medulla oblongata, which connects the brainstem and spinal cord.
The study was published in the journal “Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology”, and was highlighted by the American “Fox News” news network.
“We found a defect in a specific receptor in the medulla oblongata, a part of the lower brain that regulates autonomic functions, including the work of the respiratory system, when examining cadavers of infants who died with this syndrome,” said the study’s lead author Robin Hines, a principal assistant at Harvard Medical School.
The doctor explained, “When the child does not get enough oxygen, these receptors stimulate the child’s natural instinct to breathe for air, but when there is a defect in this receptor, it is not allowed to work properly, and therefore it does not send the signal to the child to breathe.”
“This puts them at greater risk in unsafe sleeping conditions, for example when oxygen levels around the infant’s airway are lower than normal, if they sleep in the wrong position or if a number of people share one bed,” said the doctor.
The researchers analyzed the brain tissue of the bodies of 70 infants, and it was found that all 58 children who died of sudden infant death syndrome had a defect in these receptors.
Unfortunately, Hines said, there is currently no way to identify infants at risk of developing this syndrome, as “the young appear healthy until the moment of uncaused death.”
“The defect in this neurotransmitter system is undetectable in live infants, which is why it is so important to follow safe sleep practices at all times.”