Research Paper on:
SIDS Causes and Theories

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
sudden death of an infant under one year of age that remains unexplained after a thorough investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene; and review  of the clinical history" (Carroll and Siska, 1998, 1566). What makes SIDS so unique is the fact that the diagnosis occurs after death based on what is not found as  opposed to what is found. It is a diagnosis of exclusion; when all avenues have been investigated and no other reasons for the death appear, it is said to be  a SIDS case (Carroll and Siska, 1998; Barness and Barness, 1996). Since 1992, the incidence of SIDS deaths has dropped from the 2nd most frequent cause of infant death to  the 3rd most frequent cause of death for infants under the age of one year (MedLine, 2003). SIDS typically strikes infants between one and six months old; 85 percent of  infants who die of SIDS are 2 to 4 months old, and 95 percent are younger than six months old (Barness and Barness, 1996). According to the Merck Manual  of Diagnosis and Therapy, SIDS accounts for 30 percent of all deaths between the ages of 2 weeks and 1 year (2003). Worldwide, SIDS occurs in 1.5 infants out of  1,000 live births (Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, 2003). The incidence of SIDS rises in cold months (Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, 2003). The incidence is also higher  in premature babies, in infants who suffer from severe apnea, in lower socioeconomic groups, in siblings of SIDS babies and in babies whose mothers smoked during pregnancy (Merck Manual of  Diagnosis and Therapy, 2003). SIDS typically happens when the baby seems to be sleeping (Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, 2003). The incidence of SIDS among the Native American population