Our data revealed a normal maturation of the adrenal glands in SIDS cases. Additionally, I have already shown that testosterone has a negative effect in HIV infection and AIDS, so this is a logical thing, for me, to check. The idea is that REM sleep is a healthy sign for infants during the time of SIDS incidence. This indicates to me that DHEA is in low amounts as melatonin increases in the first months of life. Significant sex differences within the first six months of life are of particular importance because of the consistently reported higher incidence of SIDS in males than females.
Men produce more testosterone.
However, in a situation of limited DHEA, this can be a problem, because testosterone redirects DHEA for its target tissues. The idea that testosterone is involved in SIDS has been tested in an infant primate. The cause of death in SIDS is generally thought to be a ventilatory arrest, but the mechanism responsible for such an event remains unknown. Testosterone has been demonstrated to depress ventilatory drive and increase sleep apnea in adult men. We tested the hypothesis that the gonadal steroidtestosterone depresses infant ventilatory drive during sleep.