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Lack of oxygen linked to SIDS deaths

The brains of infants who die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) show the same signs as infants who die of accidental suffocation.

Professor Roger Byard led the study looking at the presence of a protein released when brain nerve cells are damaged in the brains of 176 infants who died from head trauma, infection, drowning, suffocation and SIDS.

The brains of all infants who died of SIDS had the protein, and the amount and pattern were similar to those who’d died of suffocation.

The researchers say the presence of protein alone doesn’t necessarily reveal the cause of death, but it could help clarify the mechanism.

Read more at University of Adelaide

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