CHICAGO, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Chicago researchers say about 5 percent of deaths from SIDS -- sudden infant death syndrome -- in African Americans can be traced to genetic problems.
The University of Chicago study says defects in one gene and half of those deaths result from a common genetic variation that increases an infant's risk of developing an abnormal heart rhythm during times of environmental stress.
Children with two copies of the common genetic variation have a 24-fold increased risk of sudden death as infants
"The common polymorphism alone does not cause SIDS," said Dr. Steven Goldstein, professor and chairman of pediatrics and director of the study. "Our findings suggest, however, that it renders infants vulnerable to environmental challenges -- such as a long pause in respiration -- that are tolerated by children without the mutation.
"The hope," he added, "is that findings like this may one day allow us to intervene."
SIDS is the leading cause of infant deaths in the United States. African Americans have a three times greater risk of SIDS than Caucasians and six times the risk of Hispanics or Asians.
The research appears in the February issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
