A recent study looked into sudden, unexpected deaths in young children, particularly during sleep.
Researchers found that brief seizures, along with muscle convulsions, could be a possible cause.
Let's find out more about their discovery.
Unexpected deaths
Every year, more than 3,000 families in the United States experience the unexpected loss of a baby or young child with no explanation.
Most of these cases involve infants, known as SIDS, but there are also over 400 cases involving children aged 1 and older, known as SUDC.
More than half of these children are toddlers.
Long studies
Scientists have been studying sudden deaths in children for a long time and have discovered a connection between these incidents and febrile seizures, which are seizures accompanied by a fever.
Previous research has revealed that children who experienced sudden and unexpected deaths were ten times more likely to have had febrile seizures.
Scientists analyzed rare cases of SUDC using home videos recorded while the children were sleeping on the day they passed away.
Out of seven video recordings, five showed signs of seizures through sound and movement, while two recordings were triggered but had limited evidence of a seizure.
Only one child had a documented history of febrile seizures.
Autopsies conducted earlier had not revealed any definitive cause of death.
The specialists explain the significance of video evidence in identifying seizures as a potential cause of sudden deaths in children during sleep.
Why it's important
The study emphasized that understanding seizures could shed light on many other deaths, such as those from SIDS and epilepsy.
Continuous monitoring and improved health records are necessary to confirm the relationship between seizures and sudden death.
Previously, we talked about age-related memory loss.
