Researchers at the Cumming School of Medicine are exploring the mysteries behind SIDS and say a safe sleep environment can reduce the risks significantly.
About 20 babies in Alberta and 200 across the country die from SIDS or sudden infant death syndrome every year and it remains the leading cause of infant death in Canada.
The syndrome affects children under the age of one and death rates have decreased by half since the introduction of "Back to Sleep" programs in the 1990s but scientists say more can be done to reduce the risks.
“The most impact that we have made is the Back to Sleep position so for every single sleep, daytime, nighttime, does not matter, the baby should be put on his or her back, never on stomach or prone position as we call it, so it should be avoided,” said Dr. Shabih Hasan, Professor, Department of Paediatrics, member of the university's Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute and senior author on the study. “It’s amazing that after so many decades of research that a simple intervention such as putting the baby to sleep on their back has reduced the SIDS rate by more than half so if we implement the other interventions that I mentioned, I think we can reduce it ever further.”
Dr. Hasan and his group also looked at how exposure to cigarette smoke, high temperatures and infection increased the risk of SIDS.
"It's important to understand how these environmental factors increase risk so we can better alert parents of the potential danger of these situations," said Dr. Hasan. “SIDS is a diagnosis of exclusion so we cannot say what causes it but we know what factors are associated with it.”
The researchers exposed animal models to the environmental factors and found that smoke-exposure increased temporary interruptions in breathing, heart rates and rates of cytokine production.
They also noted that increased body temperature and exposure to infection suppressed heart rates to levels normally only found in low oxygen environments, like sleeping under a blanket.
Sarah Cormier’s daughter, Quinn Isla, was just four months old when she died from SIDS.
“We thought we were doing everything right. Quinn was in her own bed. She was breast-fed, I don’t believe she was over-heated, and I didn’t smoke. It was actually our family dog who alerted us that something was wrong, just started circling the bassinet and your life is forever changed in a moment,” she said. “It’s still just a mystery and there’s lots of research going on including this research here at the U of C that SIDS Calgary supports as well. Just have to have an awareness, really paying attention to those risk factors.”
She says coroners label these deaths as undetermined and that the research is important to prevent more of them from happening.
“We want people to know that SIDS still exists. That it happens, it happens in your community. It happened to us just two short years ago and just an awareness, we also want to acknowledge the research that is still going on and hopeful that this can become preventable,” said Cormier. “Pay attention to those risk factors and know that SIDS still exists.”
Hasan and his team say SIDS rates can be further reduced with a national campaign and changes in infant care practices including:
- "Back to Sleep" position for every sleep.
- Room sharing is fine but co-bedding or bed-sharing with parents and twins is unsafe.
- Avoidance of over-wrapping and overheating the room.
- Not to use a soft mattress and keep cuddly toys, pillows and heavy blankets out of infant's crib.
- Avoid cigarette smoke, alcohol and illicit drug exposure during and after pregnancy by both parents.
- Immunize the infant.
- Encourage breast-feeding.
The study was recently published in the American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.
For more information on SIDS visit the Baby’s Breath website HERE.
