Do increased levels of testosterone play a role in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome?
Sudden Infant Death syndrome (SIDS) is the leading cause of unexpected death in infants ages one week to one year old. Although the number of SIDS related deaths has decreased due to greater public awareness regarding infants' sleep positions, the cause of SIDS remains unknown. However, a study in the November issue of The Journal of Pediatrics shows that elevated testosterone levels may put infants at greater risk for SIDS.
Michael Emery, PhD, from the University of Washington, and colleagues tested estrogen and testosterone levels in the blood serum of 127 infants who had died of SIDS and 42 infants who had died of other causes of unexpected infant death. They found that the testosterone levels in the male SIDS infants were 120% higher than in male non-SIDS infants and 50% higher in female SIDS infants than in female non-SIDS infants. Estrogen levels were not different among the SIDS and non-SIDS infants.
"These results may be important for better understanding of SIDS because the known relationship between testosterone and breathing during sleep provides a mechanism that potentially contributes to SIDS," says Dr. Emery. Previous studies have indicated that higher levels of testosterone may result in depressed breathing during sleep, which in turn may increase the risk of SIDS.
Twins' lower IQ levels than single-born children not down to social factors
The cognitive cost of being a twin: evidence from comparisons within families in the Aberdeen children of the 1950s cohort study, BMJ Online First
Social and economic circumstances do not explain why twins have significantly lower IQ in childhood than single-born children, according to a study in this week's BMJ.
Researchers studied 9,832 single-born children and 236 twins born in Aberdeen, Scotland between 1950 and 1956, using a previous child development survey as a base. They also gathered further information on mother's age at delivery, birth weight, at what stage of the child's gestation they were born, their father's occupational social class, and information on other siblings.
They found that at age seven, the average IQ score for twins was 5.3 points lower than that for single-born children of the same family, and 6.0 points lower at age nine.
The study also showed that taking into account factors such as the child's sex, mother's age, and number of older siblings made little difference to the IQ gap.
Despite advances in recent years in obstetric practice and neonatal care, the authors argue that the likely explanation is because some twins have a shorter length of time in the womb than other children and are prone to impaired fetal growth.
Researchers zero in on the possible cause of Kawasaki disease
In an important discovery in infectious disease research, a team of scientists from Northwestern University has identified a possible viral cause of Kawasaki disease, the most common cause of acquired heart disease in children in developed nations.
Since 1967 when Kawasaki disease was originally described, investigators have suspected an infectious cause, but, until now, none has been identified.
The research group was led by Anne H. Rowley, M.D., professor of pediatrics and of microbiology/immunology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Children's Memorial Hospital.
An article describing the new findings was published in the Nov. 15 issue of the Journal of Infectious Disease.
Childcare reduces stress levels for kids with working mums
Low job satisfaction in working mothers increases the stress levels of their children, but spending longer in childcare can help overcome these effects, new research has shown.
In a study involving more than 50 nursery school children, researchers found higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol in children whose mothers found their jobs less rewarding, or left them feeling emotionally exhausted, than those who reported more enjoyment from their jobs.
Levels of cortisol in the evening were more than double in these children.
Yet for women who have low job satisfaction, the research suggests that placing their children in childcare would help to significantly reduce the stress experienced by their children.
The researchers also found that children from families that were either highly expressive or reserved also exhibited higher than average cortisol levels.
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