Breathing a bit askew in SIDS babies.In the 1980s, scientists in the United Kingdom recorded the breathing patterns of nearly 7,000 infants ranging in age from 2 days to 65 days. The still-unexplained phenomenon of sudden infant death syndrome sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or crib death, sudden, unexpected, and unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant under one year of age (usually between two weeks and eight months old). (SIDS SIDS sudden infant death syndrome. SIDS abbr. sudden infant death syndrome SIDS, n See syndrome, sudden infant death. ) later killed 16 of those infants. Although examination of the breathing records gave no clues at the time, investigators at the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA comprises the College of Letters and Science (the primary undergraduate college), seven professional schools, and five professional Health Science schools. Since 2001, UCLA has enrolled over 33,000 total students, and that number is steadily rising. have now found low variability in the intervals between breaths in the SIDS babies. Without knowing during the analysis which records belonged to which babies, the researchers compared the data from all the SIDS babies and 35 of those that survived. "The respiratory system respiratory system: see respiration. respiratory system Organ system involved in respiration. In humans, the diaphragm and, to a lesser extent, the muscles between the ribs generate a pumping action, moving air in and out of the lungs through a [of the SIDS babies] appears to be more rigid at slow breathing rates," says Ronald M. Harper of UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX . "It was obvious which were SIDS babies and which were not." Though this breathing rigidity itself does not cause death, it suggests that the brain regions that control respiration develop abnormally in SIDS infants. Pursuing this lead may allow screening for babies susceptible to SIDS, says Harper. |
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