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