The Atlantic

The Link Between SIDS and Serotonin

A new study hints at the possibility of a forensic test for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and inches closer to the possibility of preventative screening.
Source: Michaela Rehle / Reuters

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is not common, exactly, but it isn’t rare either. And despite a considerable decline in SIDS over the past 20 years, it remains the leading cause of death among babies between 1 month old and 1 year old, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At the same time, the underlying reasons for SIDS have remained a mystery, even after decades of study. That’s beginning to change. The latest research has dramatic implications for scientists’ understanding of SIDS, and hints at the distant possibility of

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