Fed: SIDS and blood oxygen linked in huge study

AAP General News (Australia)
04-08-2004
Fed: SIDS and blood oxygen linked in huge study

American scientists have found another clue to unlocking the cause of sudden infant
death syndrome -- or SIDS.

They've found an infant's blood at birth can influence the child's risk of disease.

Researchers examined more than three million babies over seven years to reach the conclusion
that the risk of SIDS doubles when a baby is born with low levels of adult haemoglobin
-- the substance that carries oxygen through the blood stream.

But DAVID RICHARDSON and his colleagues have written in the latest Archives of Paediatrics
and Adolescent Medicine that they can't say why haemoglobin levels make a difference.

Dr RICHARDSON says that further research to evaluate the association between SIDS and
haemoglobin levels may lead to using adult haemoglobin levels as a tool for identifying
infants at greatest risk of SIDS.

In Australia more than 100 babies die of SIDS each year.

AAP RTV kbw/mj/rt

KEYWORD: SIDS (SYDNEY)

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