| The risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or | | | | |
| SIDS, is dramatically lower among infants who | | | | The protective effect of the pacifier seemed |
| are given pacifiers while they sleep, | | | | evident even for those infants who were in an |
| according to new research conducted by Kaiser | | | | adverse sleep environment, such as sleeping |
| Permanente and the National Institutes of | | | | face down or on the side, sleeping with a |
| Health. The findings are published in the | | | | mother who smoked, or sleeping on soft |
| British Medical Journal. | | | | bedding, the researchers found. |
| | | | |
| SIDS is the leading cause of death among | | | | Another Strategy |
| infants between the ages of one month and one | | | | |
| year, claiming between 2,300 and 2,500 lives | | | | Pacifiers may help protect an infant because |
| every year in the United States. | | | | the bulky handle stops the baby from |
| | | | accidentally suffocating in heavy blankets or |
| Other Risk Factors | | | | soft bedding, says Li. Also, the pacifier |
| | | | handle may alter an infant's sleep |
| For the latest study, investigators analyzed | | | | environment by changing the configuration of |
| 185 cases of babies who died from SIDS in 10 | | | | the airway passage surrounding the nose and |
| Northern California counties and Los Angeles | | | | mouth, he notes. |
| County from 1997 to 2000. They compared the | | | | |
| SIDS infants to 312 normal infants of a | | | | In the early 1990s, a broad campaign urging |
| similar age and from similar socio-economic | | | | parents to put their babies to sleep on their |
| and ethnic backgrounds. | | | | backs helped reduce the number of SIDS deaths |
| | | | by more than 50 percent. |
| "Pacifier use has been linked to lower rates | | | | |
| of SIDS for some time, but this is the first | | | | "We believe that pacifier use may be another |
| study to examine this relationship | | | | strategy for further reducing the risk of |
| comprehensively and in the context of its | | | | SIDS," says Diana B. Petitti, MD, MPH, the |
| interaction with other risk factors for | | | | lead researcher for Kaiser Permanente's |
| SIDS," says lead researcher De-Kun Li, MD, | | | | Southern California study site, the |
| PhD, of Kaiser Permanente's Division of | | | | Department of Research and Evaluation in |
| Research in Oakland. | | | | Pasadena. |