SIDS study CMAJ 1997;157:361 © 1997 Canadian Medical Association A Calgary researcher is attempting to determine how exposure to cigarette smoke increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which claims up to 800 lives a year in Canada. "We know that cigarette smoke is detrimental to health and a key risk factor [for SIDS], but we don't know precisely how and where it does its damage," said Dr. Shabih Hasan of the University of Calgary. "Our preliminary studies indicated that the fetus acts as a reservoir for nicotine." His study is being funded by a 3-year, $272 000 grant from the Medical Research Council of Canada. Hasan says the risk of SIDS-related death increases in direct proportion to the amount mothers smoke during pregnancy. Send a letter to the editor responding to this article Envoyez une lettre à la rédaction au sujet de cet article | CMAJ August 15, 1997 (vol 157, no 4) / JAMC le 15 août 1997 (vol 157, no 4) |