Sudden infant death syndrome while sleeping

In the United States alone, every year thousands of infants die in their sleep for unknown reasons, often before the age of 6 months.

Compared with other infants, the group who lost to SIDS had lower BChE levels. This is an enzyme that stimulates sleep. However, the experts note, this finding does not mean that low levels of the enzyme cause SIDS. However, it is consistent with the hypothesis that the cause of SIDS is due to dysfunction in the brain region that controls sleep reflexes.

From personal tragedy to science

The number of deaths from SIDS has decreased significantly since training programs on how to sleep safely for babies. Even so, many infants do not survive despite these precautions.

Carmel Harrington, a sleep researcher at Westmead Children’s Hospital in Australia, says guilt can make parents feel sloppy.

29 years ago, Harrington lost her baby, Damien, to her sleep. She feels that she has neglected her child and is responsible for what happened. It got even worse when other parents shared their fears about SIDS when they heard her story. “They would say to you, ‘Oh, I almost did, but I kept an eye on my kids,'” Harrington recalls.

At the time, Harrington was an attorney. She decided to leave her job and study to become a sleep researcher. She wanted to find out what happened to her son. Decades later, she examined the hypothesis that infants who die of SIDS may lack a wake-up reflex if they stop breathing while sleeping on their stomachs.

No matter how careful a parent is, most babies roll over while they sleep. However, only a small number of deaths occurred. This prompted Harrington to search for a scientific explanation, but there was insufficient funding.

Last year, with her daughter-in-law’s encouragement, she set up a crowdfunding page to support her research. She raised $35,000 from about 350 people, many of whom had lost children to SIDS.

Hope and consolation

Harrington’s study looked at data from 772 infants. For each child who died from SIDS, another 10 children were used as controls – those who were otherwise healthy in infancy or died of other causes.

All infants who died to SIDS had significantly lower levels of BChE. This demonstrates a potential link between enzyme levels and SIDS. In addition, enzyme levels in some healthy children are also low. As such, not all infants at high risk of SIDS will die because of low BChE levels.

Harrington believes her research can help parents who have lost a child to SIDS work through their grief, explaining the tragedy they’ve been through. “For those parents, I want to reassure them that they are not negligent,” she said.

Since the study was published, Harrington has received numerous letters from people who feel her results are somewhat comforting. The number of sponsors has doubled to about 750 people and the total amount of funding is $49,000.

She said: “I have received a great response. I usually keep my scientific brain separate from my emotional brain – but this time it was quite difficult.”

An Yen (According to Quartz)