Can A Hearing Test Prevent S.I.D.S?

By AdventureDad on August 3rd, 2007 Print This Post Email This Post

Forbes has an interesting story about a simple hearing test that could possibly identify babies at risk for S.I.D.S. This horrible disease with no sure cause has always made me nervous. Progress on a cause for S.I.D.S or ways to avoid it are reported now and then but this analysis seems easy and straight forward.

Researchers at the Children's hospital in Seattle have found some interesting similarities in hearing tests among children who died of S.I.D.S.

Dr. Daniel D. Rubens and colleagues at the Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, in Seattle, analyzed data on 31 Rhode Island babies who died of SIDS.

They found that they all shared the same distinctive difference in newborn hearing test results for the right inner ear.

Compared with other babies, those who died of SIDS scored four points lower in standard newborn hearing tests, across three different sound frequencies in the right ear.

Rubens also noted that healthy infants typically test stronger in the right ear than in the left. However, the infants who died of SIDS had lower scores for the right ear than the left.

S.I.D.S is the only thing that has made me scared about being a parent. I have talked about S.I.D.S many times before, the thought of finding one of my children cold and lifeless one morning has often been on my mind. I know it's irrational and risks are low, especially if you take precautions, but it's the uncertainty about S.I.D.S that's so devastating.

Imagine your child gone but no one can tell you why. You did everything right but your baby still passed away.

Why would hearing tests possibly identify babies with risk for S.I.D.S?

The inner ear contains tiny hairs involved with both hearing and vestibular (balance) function. Vestibular hair cells may play an important role in transmitting information to the brain about levels of carbon dioxide in the blood, Rubens suggested. Injury to vestibular hair cells may disrupt respiratory control and predispose infants to SIDS.

This sounds like very promising research to me. My next question would be what to do after identifying babies at risk? How do you tell parents without them going crazy and worrying 24/7?

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