Dummies 'reduce risk of baby death'

A simple device that new parents often use to quiet and comfort their newborns can also reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) by 90 percent, a new study has found.

The device -- a pacifier -- also mitigated other risk factors for SIDS, the first time this has been shown, according to the study in the Dec. 10 issue of the British Medical Journal.

"It's another study that agrees that if you go back and look at women whose babies died of SIDS and compare them to a similar group who didn't, many more of the babies who died of SIDS weren't using pacifiers at that time," said Dr. Ian Holzman, chief of &to=http://english.pravda.ru/society/2001/06/14/7694.html' target=_blank>newborn medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.

"Almost every study is showing the same thing, which makes one think it may well be true. Pacifiers have got to be the cheapest medical intervention for something in a long time," he said, reports Forbes.

According to BBC News, the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) recommends that if a baby is using a dummy regularly then it is best to carry on.

Two research studies published since 2000 showed that babies who usually use a dummy but then stop are at an increased risk of cot death on the night they do not use it.

However, the charity said statistical analysis was very complicated, and the findings required careful study.