Genetics and Health

Cardiac Genes Linked to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

by Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD on May 22nd, 2006

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) occurs in children less than a year old. The cause is unexplained and the children are found dead in their sleep. In the U.S., about 2,500 deaths due to SIDS occur each year although the number of deaths has declined since the Back-To-Sleep program began to encourage parents to let their babies sleep on their backs.

New research suggests that two genes related to the heart may be linked to SIDS. The caveolin-3 (CAV3) gene is related to long QT syndrome and the cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) gene is involved in distinct genetic heart rhythm disease known as catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT). These two genes may account for up to 15 percent of SIDS cases. (Not sure how confident I would be of these figures considering they only studed the tissue from 135 cases of SIDS.)

Dr. Michael J. Ackerman:

Although so much of SIDS remains unexplained, these findings that point to the heart for 10 percent to 15 percent of SIDS provide one place to search for a possible explanation. For families that have lost an infant to SIDS, it would be reasonable for parents to talk with their physician to make sure there is no family history of other unexplained deaths, unexplained fainting episodes, unexplained seizures that might provide clues and prevent more deaths.

It is always good to know as much as you can about your entire family’s medical history.

Medical News Today, May 21, 2006

Technorati Tags: sids, sudden infant death syndrome, long qt, heart, disease, health, genetics, genes, dna

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POSTED IN: Genetics of Disease