Early warning of cot death found

Medics may soon be able to identify babies at greater risk of Sudden Infant

Death Syndrome, known as cot death, saving lives.

Researchers at The

Children’s Hospital at

Westmead, Australia, have found some babies have lower levels of a chemical that wakes them up if they can’t breathe properly. “It has long been thought to be the case that some babies don’t have the same robust arousal response in life-threatening situations, but up to now we didn’t know what was causing the lack of arousal,” says researcher Dr Carmel Harrington.

“Now, we can begin to change the outcome for these babies and make SIDS a thing of the past.”