PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Bed sharing with parents increases risk of cot death fivefold

Rates of sudden infant death would plummet if parents avoided bed sharing, advise authors

2013-05-21
(Press-News.org) Bed sharing with parents is linked to a fivefold increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), even when the parents are non-smokers and the mother has not been drinking alcohol and does not use illegal drugs, according to a large analysis published online in BMJ Open.

While the rate of SIDS has fallen sharply following advice to parents to place babies to sleep on their back (supine), SIDS remains the major cause of infant death in the postneonatal period (28 days through to the first birthday) in developed countries.

Some countries, such as the Netherlands and the USA, advise parents not to sleep in the same bed as infants less than three months old, whereas others, such as the UK and Australia, advise only certain parents not to bed share with their young infants, including smokers and those who have been drinking alcohol or taking drugs.

The authors of this analysis estimate that around 88% of all SIDS deaths while bed sharing would not have occurred if bed sharing had been avoided. Their results show that even when neither parent smoked, and the baby was less than 3 months old, breastfed and the mother did not drink or take drugs, the risk of SIDS was five times higher than if the baby had slept in a cot next to their parents' bed.

The risk of SIDS while bed sharing decreased as the age of the infant rose, but if either parent was a smoker or the mother had drunk alcohol (two or more units in the last 24 hours) or used illegal drugs, including cannabis, at any time since the child was born, the risk was greatly increased.

Risks of bed sharing had been reported in different ways, so Professor Bob Carpenter, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, led this study which combined individual data from five published data sets from the UK, Europe and Australasia. It includes data on 1472 SIDS cases and 4679 controls and is the largest ever individual level study of the problem.

It revealed that one or both parents of 22.2% of the infants who had died from SIDS had been sleeping with their child at the time of death, while 9.6% of the parents in the control group had awoken the morning of the interview in the same bed as their child. Over the past 10 years, there has been a marked increase in bed sharing and the authors now estimate that around 50% of SIDS cases occur while bed sharing, more than double the figure found in the study.

The authors write: "88% of the deaths that occurred while bed sharing would probably not have occurred had the baby been placed on its back in a cot by the parents' bed." Even in very low-risk breastfed babies, where there were no risk factors for SIDS other than that they had slept in their parents' bed, 81% of SIDS deaths in infants under three months of age could have been prevented by not bed sharing, they add.

"The current messages saying that bed sharing is dangerous only if you or your partner are smokers, have been drinking alcohol or taking drugs that make you drowsy, are very tired or the baby is premature or of low-birth weight, are not effective," they say and call for recommendations "that take a more definitive stance against bed sharing for babies under 3 months".

"We do not suggest that babies should not be brought into the parent's bed for comfort and feeding. This has been investigated in previous studies and has not been found to be a risk factor, provided the infant is returned to his or her own cot for sleep," they write.

### [Bed sharing when parents do not smoke: is there a risk of SIDS? An individual level analysis of five major case–control studies Online First doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002299]


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

The incidence of eating disorders is increasing in the UK

2013-05-21
More people are being diagnosed with eating disorders every year and the most common type is not either of the two most well known—bulimia or anorexia—but eating disorders not otherwise specified (eating disorders that don't quite reach the threshold to be defined as anorexia or bulimia), shows a study published online in BMJ Open. Few studies have investigated the incidence of eating disorders, so the authors set out to determine the incidence of diagnosed anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and other non-specified eating disorders in primary care over a 10-year period ...

Mediterranean diet seems to boost ageing brain power

2013-05-21
A Mediterranean diet with added extra virgin olive oil or mixed nuts seems to improve the brain power of older people better than advising them to follow a low-fat diet, indicates research published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. The authors from the University of Navarra in Spain base their findings on 522 men and women aged between 55 and 80 without cardiovascular disease but at high vascular risk because of underlying disease/conditions. These included either type 2 diabetes or three of the following: high blood pressure; an unfavourable ...

Protein study suggests drug side effects are inevitable

2013-05-21
A new study of both computer-created and natural proteins suggests that the number of unique pockets – sites where small molecule pharmaceutical compounds can bind to proteins – is surprisingly small, meaning drug side effects may be impossible to avoid. The study also found that the fundamental biochemical processes needed for life could have been enabled by the simple physics of protein folding. Studying a set of artificial proteins and comparing them to natural proteins, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have concluded that there may be no more than ...

New test better detects elephantiasis worm infection

2013-05-21
A new diagnostic test for a worm infection that can lead to severe enlargement and deformities of the legs and genitals is far more sensitive than the currently used test, according to results of a field study in Liberia, in West Africa, where the infection is endemic. The new test found evidence of the infection – lymphatic filariasis – in many more people that the standard test had missed. The study, the first to independently evaluate the new test, was led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates ...

Study shows that women who smoke during pregnancy increase the risk of both obesity and gestational diabetes in their daughters

2013-05-21
Women who smoke during pregnancy increase the risk of both obesity and gestational diabetes, in their daughters, concludes research published in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. The study is by Dr Kristina Mattsson, Lund University, Sweden, and colleagues including Dr Matthew Longnecker from the National Institute on Environmental Health Sciences at the U.S.National Institutes of Health, North Carolina, USA. While the relation of prenatal tobacco exposure to negative outcomes in childhood has been much studied, reports on ...

Parasitic wasps use calcium pump to block fruit fly immunity

2013-05-21
Parasitic wasps switch off the immune systems of fruit flies by draining calcium from the flies' blood cells, a finding that offers new insight into how pathogens break through a host's defenses. "We believe that we have discovered an important component of cellular immunity, one that parasites have learned to take advantage of," says Emory University biologist Todd Schlenke, whose lab led the research. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) published the results, showing how a wasp version of a conserved protein called SERCA, which normally functions ...

AHRQ-funded journal supplement offers lessons on primary care practice transformation

2013-05-21
LEAWOOD, Kan. – Primary care practice transformation on a large scale is the cornerstone of current health care reform efforts aimed at achieving better outcomes, better value and better experience of care. Amid emerging evidence that transformation toward the patient-centered medical home model offers a viable solution in today's health care environment, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality funded 14 studies to learn more about the processes and determinants of successful change from practices that had already demonstrated ...

Molecular trigger for Alzheimer's disease identified

2013-05-21
Researchers have pinpointed a catalytic trigger for the onset of Alzheimer's disease – when the fundamental structure of a protein molecule changes to cause a chain reaction that leads to the death of neurons in the brain. For the first time, scientists at Cambridge's Department of Chemistry have been able to map in detail the pathway that generates "aberrant" forms of proteins which are at the root of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's. They believe the breakthrough is a vital step closer to increased capabilities for earlier diagnosis of neurological disorders ...

Imaging technique shows premature birth interrupts vital brain development processes leading to reduced cognitive abilities in infants

2013-05-21
VIDEO: This video shows the development of the frontal and temporal regions of the cerebral cortex in preterm infants during the last three months before the normal time of birth, turning... Click here for more information. Imaging technique shows premature birth interrupts vital brain development processes, leading to reduced cognitive abilities in infants Researchers from King's College London have for the first time used a novel form of MRI to identify crucial developmental ...

Telerehabilitation allows accurate assessment of patients with low back pain

2013-05-21
Philadelphia, Pa. (May 20, 2013) - A new "telerehabilitation" approach lets physical therapists assess patients with low back pain (LBP) over the Internet, with good accuracy compared with face-to-face examinations, reports a study in the May 15 issue of Spine. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. Taking advantage of Skype and other widely-used services may make telerehabilitation a more feasible alternative to in-person clinic visits, according to the new research by Prof. Manuel Arroyo-Morales and colleagues of ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Inability to pay for healthcare reaches record high in U.S.

Science ‘storytelling’ urgently needed amid climate and biodiversity crisis

KAIST Develops Retinal Therapy to Restore Lost Vision​

Adipocyte-hepatocyte signaling mechanism uncovered in endoplasmic reticulum stress response

Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid

Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia

Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients

Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years

Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations

New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients

New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans

Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production

New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination

Study examines lactation in critically ill patients

UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award

Doubling down on metasurfaces

New Cedars-Sinai study shows how specialized diet can improve gut disorders

Making moves and hitting the breaks: Owl journeys surprise researchers in western Montana

PKU Scientists simulate the origin and evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation

ICRAFT breakthrough: Unlocking A20’s dual role in cancer immunotherapy

How VR technology is changing the game for Alzheimer’s disease

A borrowed bacterial gene allowed some marine diatoms to live on a seaweed diet

Balance between two competing nerve proteins deters symptoms of autism in mice

Use of antifungals in agriculture may increase resistance in an infectious yeast

Awareness grows of cancer risk from alcohol consumption, survey finds

The experts that can outsmart optical illusions

Pregnancy may reduce long COVID risk

Scientists uncover novel immune mechanism in wheat tandem kinase

Three University of Virginia Engineering faculty elected as AAAS Fellows

Unintentional drug overdoses take a toll across the U.S. unequally, study finds

[Press-News.org] Bed sharing with parents increases risk of cot death fivefold
Rates of sudden infant death would plummet if parents avoided bed sharing, advise authors