Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) - is a medical term used to describe the unexplained and sudden death of a child under the age of one year. More importantly, the autopsy did not reveal any apparent cause of death.

The sad thing is that many victims of SIDS are completely healthy children. In most cases, children are well fed and ready for bed. Then suddenly the baby is found dead in bed, without pulse and respiration. Even the use of the recovery heart rate does not help.

Facts about SIDS

The diagnosis of SIDS is made when a healthy baby under six months is found dead in his crib. SIDS rarely occurs in the first month of life, mortality peaks occur in a period of two to four months, but it can happen with a baby up to six months. SIDS often happens with boys than with girls. A higher incidence of SIDS occurs during the winter months.

Causes

Although the exact causes of SIDS are not installed, many medical societies suggest that SIDS can happen under the following factors:

• Problem spillage (this means that the child does not have the ability to wake up).
• The child's body is unable to determine the level of increase of carbon dioxide in the blood and can not deduce it.
• Sleeping on the stomach.
• A child exposed to cigarette smoke in the womb or after birth.
• Smoking mother, or a mother who inject drugs.
• Very soft bedding in the crib.
• Sleeping in the same bed with parents. Unexpected clamping child between the parents.
• Children Twins If you have twins: Ten Smiles   or triplets.
• Premature baby.
• A short break between pregnancies.
• Brothers and sisters, who had SIDS.
• The minor's mother.
• Poor care during pregnancy.
• Poor living conditions.

The relative risk factors of SIDS

• Anemia or anemia - the cause can not be found opening, as the level of hemoglobin Hemoglobin: worse - low or high?   It can only be measured in a living child.
• The fungus can cause bleeding in the lungs, which is fatal to the child's case.
• SIDS occurs less often with children small weight than children with weight above the average rate.

British studies have shown that the bacteriological infection (Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli) may be a risk factor for some cases of SIDS.

American Public Health Association has released an article that claimed that babies with SIDS have abnormalities in the brain stem - underdeveloped serotonin receptors that control functions such as blood pressure, breathing and awakening.

Still other studies suggest that a possible cause of SIDS may be the parents who left their child in a bent position, the body position of Trendelenburg. This can cause blockage of the brain stem. In the most severe cases, the brain "destroyed."

In some cases of SIDS it was discovered reactive immune response in the brain stem, which can be caused by decreased airway responses and responses awakening.

Neck and spinal damage that can happen to a baby during childbirth, if it is wrong to turn the neck. The classic symptom of damage to the cervical - are problems with breathing and damage to the brain stem.

Record breathing infants who died from SIDS differ from records breathing normal babies.

SIDS may be associated with increased gassed and high content of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere of the city.

Tests

The autopsy did not reveal the cause of death. While it can add knowledge about SIDS in the treasury of the experience already gained. In most cases, infant death sudden and unexpected, and the law requires an autopsy.

Preventing SIDS

Tips on preventing SIDS:

• It is best to lay the baby to sleep on his back. Never put it on the belly. Side position is unstable enough for the baby and should also be avoided.
• To avoid congestion due to sleeping in the same position, you can allow your child to crawl on his stomach while he is awake.
• Infants should not sleep in the same bed with other children or parents. Never put a child's parent. Do not put your baby to sleep on soft surfaces such as sofas.
• Very well, if the child sleeps in the same room with their parents.
• Soft bedding and quilts should be removed. Infants should sleep on a firm flat mattress.
• Use light sheets for sheltering children. Pillows, quilts and blankets do not need to use.
• The room temperature should not be too hot. It should be such that an adult wearing felt comfortable. A child should not be hot to the touch.
• The risk of SIDS can be reduced using a pacifier during sleep Dreams: how to understand our dreams . Doctors believe that the nipple allows your child to breathe in more air and prevents the child a deep sleep. In this situation the child wakes up quickly and you need to make sure that it is not turned into a dangerous position.
• If the child is breast-feeding, you will need to wait about a month before offering him a pacifier.
• Sometimes people use electronic tracking monitors breathing and heartbeat to monitor short-term involuntary breath. Such devices often use the family that already happened SIDS. Recent studies have shown that the use of these monitors does not affect SIDS.

Dry cough in infants dangerously fast transfer in the wet. If an adult or a child of preschool and school age can cough up sputum, you do not grudnichok able and abundantly released sputum can completely fill the bronchial tubes, preventing the child breathe.

What should pay attention to parents

Child up to a year may be treated only by a doctor. This is especially true of cough as a child is not able to cough. But parents can help the child, if you pay attention to the features of cough, and then describe in detail all of the doctor. The nature of the cough and that the doctor will hear, listening to the lungs depends on the treatment. So what you need to pay attention to?

First of all, we should pay attention to the nature of the cough. Very dangerous shrill barking cough. This is the first sign of inflammation of the larynx. In the area of ​​the larynx are the vocal cords, which normally takes a good air. But if the vocal cords become inflamed and swollen, it closes the gap between them and breathable - it leads to suffocation. Voiced barking cough in this case is replaced by a husky, and the child begins to choke.

Another type of dry cough - not a shrill, superficial, often accompanied by tears - a sign of inflammation of the throat - cough at the same time painful. Deeper and muffled cough says the defeat of the lower airways - the bronchi and lungs. To distinguish one from the other is sometimes difficult even for a doctor. Therefore, parents should pay attention to how the baby suckles and takes other foods - this is very important as the first sign of trouble in an infant Baby man, though with a little finger   is the refusal of food. It is important the child's behavior: how it differs from the usual: he excited or, on the contrary, sluggish as sleeping.

All this information will help the doctor make the correct diagnosis and decide on treatment.

Dry cough with acute laryngitis - how to help?

If the child appeared barking cough, rolling in a hoarse with shortness of breath (the child inflates the wings of the nose, but breathes air with difficulty, whistling), it makes no sense to wait for a doctor, you need to call an ambulance. In the meantime, ambulance rides, stops the child may be omitted in a moderately hot water (unless the child has a high temperature). This will cause a rush of blood to the feet and the outflow from her throat that quickly relieve swelling.

But rejoice too early, it takes a while swelling, so an ambulance should be called necessary. Emergency doctor can introduce your child to the drug, reduces swelling of tissue, for example, some antihistamines. If the doctor suggests the child to be hospitalized, you should not refuse: laryngeal edema may increase quickly and suddenly, so it is best at this dangerous time to be where the child can really help.

Today, the hospital laryngeal edema often removed by means of inhalation. As a nebulizer device is used, which takes the drug solution into a spray, easily penetrating into the surface layers of the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract. For rapid removal of edema using glucocorticoid hormones (prednisolone, dexamethasone Dexamethasone - one of the most effective glucocorticosteroids   and others) with saline. A feature of laryngitis is that once started, they can be repeated at every colds, so this child needs to be protected from the colds and viral infections.

Dry cough as a symptom of bronchitis and pneumonia

Bronchitis and pneumonia in the baby most often a complication of viral infections. A sign of this complication can be repeated temperature rise, after the child's condition initially improved, and compulsive dry coughing. These symptoms need to pay special attention to their appearance and immediately call a doctor to the house.

In the lungs of such a child is not always possible to hear wheezing, so it is important a detailed story about the mother how the disease occurs. If you suspect pneumonia Pneumonia - Symptoms and Causes   child up to a year is sent to the hospital, as it requires intensive examination and treatment.

Acute bronchitis is a child up to a year is also not easy disease, since it can not cough, bronchitis and so sometimes treated in a hospital. Antibiotics (usually a complication is bacterial in nature) are appointed directly, usually a broad spectrum of action. When dry cough Dry cough - whether to worry about it?   moves in the wet, conducted microbiological research in order to identify the infectious agent and its sensitivity to antibiotics. If necessary, treatment is adjusted.

Converted into a wet cough in a young child with great care, every day listening to the lungs. If there is too much mucus, expectorants overturned.

In some cases, compulsive dry coughing requires little overwhelming - there are tools, such as drops for oral administration sinekod permitted to apply to two months.

In any case, a dry cough in infants should be treated by the doctor.

Galina Romanenko