Reid found
selenium (Se) deficient
soils were a common factor in two populations with the highest incidence of
SIDS world-wide (Indian population of King County Washington State, USA and the population of Canterbury, New Zealand). Reid compared a map of the
selenium responsive livestock areas in New Zealand with areas of low soil
iodine (I). She found that the 1989 report of areas of the highest
SIDS incidence coincided with Se responsive livestock areas combined with low soil
iodine. Foster found the 1983-84 incidence of
SIDS in USA has the strongest positive correlation with the incidence of goitre in World War I troops (1916).
Sodium and
strontium were positively related. Emery found a hypernatraemic
SIDS victim in a very cold environment. Robertson and Parker associated increased
sodium (Na) (used in Scunthorpe, England, as a water softener) with increased incidence of
SIDS. Godwin's study of
White Muscle Disease in lambs describes Se protection. Skeletal muscle mitochondria from dystrophic animals showed lowered respiratory rates with palmitoyl-dl-
carnitine and acetyl-dl-
carnitine as substrate. Dystrophic organelles failed to respond to
ADP. Rognun found elevated
hypoxanthine and an enhanced immune response in most
SIDS victims. A syndrome associated with
potassium deficiency has been described as a killer of healthy, young Asian men, most often during sleep. This paper describes the interactions of
sodium (Na),
potassium (K),
selenium (Se), and
iodine (I) to some factors affecting the utilization of
oxygen and the production of energy.