Complain about a product or service

Protein May Be Linked To SIDS Deaths

June 18, 2007

• Fan May Reduce SIDS Risk • Serotonin Imbalance May Contribute To SIDS • Prenatal Smoking Linked To SIDS Risk • Hearing Test May Predict Sudden Infant Death Syndrome • Sudden Death in Very Young Babies Linked to Sitting Position • Protein May Be Linked To SIDS Deaths • Pacifiers May Reduce SIDS Risk • Brainstem Abnormality Linked to SIDS • Parents Alerted to Winter SIDS Risk • Pediatricians Revise SIDS Prevention Recommendations • Tobacco Industry Smokescreen Obscured Links Between Second-Hand Smoke and SIDS • Hotel Safety Drive Opens • 1999 Recommendations • Watch Out for False Claims

Mysterious as it is tragic, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) claims thousands of young lives each year. Now an Australian study, led by the University of Adelaide, could help identify the cause of this killer.

Pediatric pathologist Professor Roger Byard has launched a joint research project with the University of Aarhus in Denmark to study the presence of a protein found in some babies who have died from SIDS.

The project will investigate whether changes in brain levels of Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) in infants may be a marker for potentially deadly breathing difficulties. APP is a protein which accumulates in the brain when there has been an injury to nerve fibers.

Byard said the brain tissue of about 200 children who had died of the syndrome in Adelaide and Denmark would be tested for APP.

“Evidence that the protein is present in SIDS babies will not lead to a cure or a diagnostic test, but will help researchers understand the cause. It could also help prevent the syndrome recurring in the same family,” he said.

“It will help us to understand why these children have died – because they may have trouble breathing and that’s not been shown before – but it will also help with families who have already had a SIDS death.”

The University of Adelaide is one of the few centers in Australia that has looked at the presence of APP in SIDS babies.

Preliminary work by Professor Byard’s team has recently been published in the American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, resulting in the commissioning of the ground-breaking research project.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.