New Study: Brainstem abnormalities found in infants with SIDS

Every year, the lives of over 22,000 newborns are claimed by the mystery disease known as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) or “crib death”. SIDS is currently the 3rd leading cause of death for infants in the US, and there are no symptoms or warning signs.

New research from Boston Children’s Hospital is shedding light on this baffling and devastating condition. Once believed to be associated with asphyxiation from stomach sleeping, the findings of the investigation showed that brainstem abnormalities were present in SIDS victims whether they were susceptible to asphyxiation or not. These abnormalities impair the centers in the brainstem responsible for regulating heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, and body temperature. The team members believe that inhibition of these centers could prevent the infants from waking up when they overheat or hyperventilate during their sleep, resulting in death.

Upper cervical chiropractors have long suspected that brainstem dysfunction plays a crucial role in this fatal condition. Dr. Godfrey Gutmann, a German medical researcher, discovered that over 80% of infants he examined were suffering from traumas or injuries of the cervical spine, which ought to be protecting the delicate brainstem. Gutmann concluded that these injuries were the root cause of a number of health conditions.

The amount of force used during Cesarean, forceps, or even conventional birth far exceeds that necessary to cause injury to an infant’s upper cervical spine. This is an unfortunate consequence to the medicalization of a natural birthing process.

These types of traumas and the subsequent damage to the brainstem can be detected and corrected by upper cervical chiropractors.

For more information on scheduling an appointment to have your child's nervous system checked, call us at 585-474-3739 or stop on in.