Video footage of babies in their cots could be the key to unraveling the cause of sudden and unexplained infant death syndrome.
Researchers at New York University have identified brief muscle spasms as a possible cause of sudden death in young children.
The study, published in the journal Neurology, examined cases of sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUDC) and analyzed family-provided medical records and videos of sleeping children.
The videos showed children having seizures that lasted less than 60 seconds and occurred within 30 minutes before death.
SUDC is a category of deaths in children aged 12 to 18 months that remain unexplained after a thorough investigation, including autopsy. A coroner can review the death of an SUDC child after an investigation has been completed and no other cause of death has been found.
Above you can see the ten most common causes of child deaths and whether they increased or decreased in 2022 (light blue) compared to 2021 (dark blue).
With SUDC, a child typically falls asleep and never wakes up. There is no known cause or prevention.
Due to differences in research methods and the way deaths are recorded, it is not known how common the condition is. However, statistics show that approximately 2,900 children under the age of four die each year in the United States from unknown causes.
NYU researchers estimate that there are 400 cases of SUDC each year in the United States, which occur primarily during sleep, and that about half of the deaths occur in children ages one to three.
For the study, researchers from New York examined 300 SUDC cases in which there was no clear cause of death.
They identified seven cases with home videos of the child’s last sleep period before his death. Each video was checked by eight doctors for movement and sound.
Videos reviewed by the team include those from security systems or commercial crypt cameras.
The team observed the children’s convulsions for between eight and fifty seconds.
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Five of the toddlers died shortly after movements that were considered brief seizures by forensic pathologists, an epilepsy specialist and a sleep specialist.
Researchers also believe a sixth child who died of SUDC also had a seizure.
Lead researcher Laura Gould, whose own daughter died of SUDC at the age of 15 months, said: “Although our study is small, it provides the first direct evidence that seizures may be responsible for some sudden deaths in children that normally go undetected. would become while they sleep. .” Is. ‘
Lead researcher and neurologist Orrin Devinsky added: “These study results show that seizures are much more common than patients’ medical history suggests and that further research is needed to determine whether seizures are involved in sleep-related deaths in young children and possibly in Kom often occurs in children.” Children. in infants, older children and adults.’
SUDC is similar to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the sudden and unexplained death of a child between one month and one year old.
Even after a comprehensive examination, doctors cannot determine the cause of death.
Like SUDC, there is no known cause of SIDS. However, there are known risk factors and ways you can reduce your child’s risk of dying from this disease.
The Cleveland Clinic reports that 90 percent of babies who die of SIDS are younger than six months, and most babies appear to be asleep between midnight and 6 a.m.
The clinic estimates that about 2,500 babies die from SIDS each year in the U.S. — making it the leading cause of death for babies between one and 12 months of age.
Almost all SIDS and SUDC deaths occur without warning or signs.
However, researchers have studied possible causes of SIDS and largely agree that babies who die of SIDS have an underlying susceptibility, such as a genetic pattern or brain abnormality, that affects the immune system and immune system when exposed to a trigger in early life. stages of SIDS development cause sudden death.
NYU researchers estimate that there are 400 cases of SUDC each year in the U.S., which occur primarily during sleep, and that about half of the deaths occur in children ages one to three (stock photo)
Risk factors for SIDS include a mother who smokes, drinks or uses drugs during pregnancy, premature birth, teenage pregnancy, low birth weight, overheating, an unsafe sleeping environment and being male at birth.
There is no scientific evidence that vaccinations cause infant mortality.
Preventive measures for SIDS include not sharing the bed with your baby, removing loose bedding from the baby’s sleeping environment, placing the baby on its back, keeping the sleeping environment cool and using a baby-proof bed.
SIDS cases outnumber SUDC cases by four to one, but SIDS is much more extensively researched than SUDC and receives about twenty times as much funding.
A previous 2021 NYU study identified the first genetic risk factor for SUDC and concluded that changes in certain genes that regulate calcium function may contribute to mortality.
Calcium is important for the function of brain cells and heart muscle. When calcium does not function properly in the body, it can lead to abnormal heart rhythms or seizures, both of which increase the risk of sudden death.
Dr. Devinsky, in the latest study, calls seizures the possible “crucial evidence that medicine has been looking for to understand why these children are dying.”
He added: “Studying this phenomenon can also provide critical insights into many other deaths, including those of infant mortality and epilepsy.”
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
