Tuesday, 20 December 2011

Extra £22k needed for FSID & GOSH!

The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, FSID funds research into sudden infant death syndrome and recently took part in The Big Give, a charitable event in which nominated charities were able to have all funds raised in a one week period, matched by The Big Give donors.

This year, FSID are requesting donations towards a ground-breaking research project to be carried out by a specialist team at Great Ormond Street Hospital, studying the causes of cot deaths.

During The Big Give week, a staggering £40,000 was generously donated and this has been doubled to £80,000. Despite this, another £44,000 is still needed to fund this piece of vital research.

To ensure the research can go ahead, The Gro Company has stepped forward and pledged to match up to £22,000 worth of donations made to FSID via their website, www.fsid.org.uk. If this extra £44,000 is raised, the vital research into investigating the causes of sudden infant death can go ahead.

Each year in the UK, 300 families are left without a reason for the sudden and unexpected death of their baby. Professor Sebire and his team at Great Ormond Street Hospital will use a new lab technique known as proteomics to see if infection may actually be a cause of some deaths. It has already been established that bacteria play a part in cot death but they are also found in babies who died of other causes.

The team will look at changes in the pattern of proteins found in tissue samples, which could identify those babies who did die as the result of infection. If they are successful, then it would be possible to develop a cheap and fast post-mortem test so that more families can have the answer to why their baby died. It would also suggest a genetic susceptibility in those babies that die as a result of infection.

To donate, please go to www.fsid.org.uk and help FSID fund research in to cot death.

Thank you for reading, hope you can help and have a fantastic Christmas!

M xx

No comments:

Post a Comment