Sharing a bed with a newborn baby increases the risk of cot death fivefold, the BBC reports.
The BMJ Open research compared nearly 1,500 cot deaths with a control group of more than 4,500 patients. It found the risk applies even if parents avoid tobacco, alcohol and drugs - other factors firmly linked to sudden infant death syndrome.
The Government said it had asked NICE to urgently examine its guidance on babies co-sleeping in light of the study.
The Daily Mail brings us the news that vitamin B pills could protect against Alzheimer’s disease. Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal showed that people in the trial given B vitamins were almost entirely protected from the brain shrinkage suffered by those who only received a placebo pill.
A rapidly shrinking brain is one of the signs of a raised risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Those taking the B vitamins had 90% less shrinkage in their brains.
Paul Thompson, professor of neurology and head of the Imaging Genetics Center at UCLA School of Medicine, California, said the results were unbelievable.
He said: ‘I’ve never seen results from brain scans showing this level of protection.’
He added: ‘We study the brain effects of all sorts of lifestyle changes — alcohol reduction, exercising more, learning to handle stress, weight loss — and a good result would be a 25 per cent reduction in shrinkage.’
