SIDS or Cot Death Linked to Brainstem Abnormality
Filed in archive Diagnostics, Methodologies and Instrumentation , Other Biotechnology News by ruth on November 02, 2006

A recent study of brain samples from infants who dies from SIDS suggest that SIDS may be traced to an abnormality in the brain stem, and supports previous hypotheses that links the vulnerability to SIDS to that same section in the brainstem that regulates serotonin levels. The results of the study have been published in the latest issue of the journal of the American Medical Association. Times Online also ran a report, summarizing the results:
The study suggests that the slight abnormalities in the brainstem may impair a baby's ability to sense high carbon dioxide and low oxygenAlthough some say that a brain abnormality is not unlikely to be the sole cause, understanding the possible risk factors may led to better diagnostics and intervention strategies.levels in its body. This would increase the risk that a baby will inhale its own exhaled breath and become deprived of oxygen. Hannah Kinney, the paper's senior author, said: "These findings provide evidence that sudden infant death syndrome is not a mystery but a disorder that we can investigate and some day may be able to identify and treat.
Read the Times Online for the full report.
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