Sudden Infant Death Syndrome - Research Paper Example

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a condition whereby an infant younger than one year dies under unexplained circumstances. Most SIDS occurs in infants aged between 2-4 months old. In the US, for instance, approximately 4500 babies die each year as a result of SIDS. Therefore, SIDS in the US is the 3rd leading etiology of infant mortality and greater part of these deaths still take place when recommendations for safe sleep are not followed (Carl & Fern, 2006). Epidemiologic studies have identified the risk factors for SIDS through demonstrating a considerable correlation between a baby’s sleep position, the sleeping environment, and SIDS (Parmet, 2012). Although there is need for more research, the current notion denotes that SIDS results when an infant’s body experience difficulty in regulating blood pressure, temperature or breathing (or a merger of these factors) because of a developmental problem or an underlying vulnerability. Additionally, when infants get stressed by external factors, with inclusion of factors like sleeping on their stomachs, they can easily die of SIDS. An action that parents can take in order to shun occurrence of SIDS is to ensure their infants sleep on their back but not stomach. This ensures that a baby breathes more easily and also prevents the chances of them breathing in their own exhaled air that can collect under their nose, mainly if the infant cuddles a lot with the pillow or blanket. In addition, parents must ensure their babies sleep in rooms with appropriate temperatures, which offers warmth to them (William, 2009). Current Scientific Evidence An article “Sudden Infant Death Syndrome” by Polina Gelfer and Michelle Tatum provides current scientific evidence regarding SIDS. Gelfer and Tatum’s epidemiologic study indicates that the age groups between 2-4 months face the highest risk of SIDS; whereby 91% of infant mortality occurs between the ages 1-6 months old. Thus the research further implies that the preterm infants and low-birth-weight infants experience highest risk of SIDS (Gelfer & Tatum, 2014). Additionally, Gelfer and Tatum comment that SIDS normally occurs seasonally, whereby more deaths occur during winter as a result of factors such as overheating within the houses (Gelfer & Tatum, 2014). Normally, several factors including modifiable as well as non-modifiable have been proven to have considerable associations with SIDS (Gelfer & Tatum, 2014). There exist possibilities that case control design normally used in the study of risk factors for SIDS, brings about unmeasured biases through participation and selection of cases and controls. Despite that, studies that use case series and complete cohort data have proven the results gained from case-control studies (Parmet, 2012). Generally, some of the risk factors that Gelfer and Tatum (2014) indicate include demographic risk factors, maternal risk factors, and sleeping environment and sleeping position. Demographic risk factors These risk factors according to Gelfer and Tatum (2014) include racial and ethnic disparities. For instance, in the United States the infants of African American and American Indians origin have the greatest risk to SIDS. Additionally, Gelfer and Tatum have proven that SIDS has a higher possibility of occurring in male infants than the female infants in a ration of 3:2. Maternal Risk Factors The article shows that infants born by teenage mothers aged Read More