A study published in the in the May issue of journal Paediatrics reveals a link between high elevations and increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
SIDS is described as a sudden unexplained death of an otherwise healthy baby under the age of 1 year, typically during sleep.
Dr. David Katz, Cardiologist, University of Colorado Denver and his colleagues claim that babies who live at high elevations above 8,000 feet may face a slightly increased risk of SIDS. Katz urged parents not to panic and stated, “The absolute risk of SIDS remains very low, and this is in no way a call to abandon residence in or visits to high-altitude locations”.
The research links tragic infant deaths to the low oxygen levels found at higher altitudes. At high elevations due to lower air pressure, the density of oxygen in the air decreases. Consequently, the infants sleeping at high elevations may have hypoxia or low oxygen levels in their blood.
In this study the researchers gathered birth and death data of babies in Colorado between 1990 and 2012. They separated the infants into three groups based on the elevation of their houses: less than 6,000 feet, between 6,000 and 8,000 feet and above 8,000 feet and studied them under certain controlled conditions.
The results noted that between 2007 and 2012, 0.42 infants per every 1,000 live births died of SIDS in Colorado as a whole but for babies living above 8,000 feet, 0.79 SIDS deaths per every 1,000 live births were reported.
In 1994, the ‘National Back to Sleep Campaign’ advised parents to put babies on their backs to sleep in order to reduce their vulnerability to SIDS. The researchers of this study assert that this works equally well at high elevations in lowering SIDS risk.
Dr. Susan Niermeyer, study co-author suggested that breastfeeding and sleeping in the same room as an infant can also reduce SIDS risk.
SIDS is described as a sudden unexplained death of an otherwise healthy baby under the age of 1 year, typically during sleep.
Dr. David Katz, Cardiologist, University of Colorado Denver and his colleagues claim that babies who live at high elevations above 8,000 feet may face a slightly increased risk of SIDS. Katz urged parents not to panic and stated, “The absolute risk of SIDS remains very low, and this is in no way a call to abandon residence in or visits to high-altitude locations”.
The research links tragic infant deaths to the low oxygen levels found at higher altitudes. At high elevations due to lower air pressure, the density of oxygen in the air decreases. Consequently, the infants sleeping at high elevations may have hypoxia or low oxygen levels in their blood.
In this study the researchers gathered birth and death data of babies in Colorado between 1990 and 2012. They separated the infants into three groups based on the elevation of their houses: less than 6,000 feet, between 6,000 and 8,000 feet and above 8,000 feet and studied them under certain controlled conditions.
The results noted that between 2007 and 2012, 0.42 infants per every 1,000 live births died of SIDS in Colorado as a whole but for babies living above 8,000 feet, 0.79 SIDS deaths per every 1,000 live births were reported.
In 1994, the ‘National Back to Sleep Campaign’ advised parents to put babies on their backs to sleep in order to reduce their vulnerability to SIDS. The researchers of this study assert that this works equally well at high elevations in lowering SIDS risk.
Dr. Susan Niermeyer, study co-author suggested that breastfeeding and sleeping in the same room as an infant can also reduce SIDS risk.
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