How the incidence depends on the month of birth
Researchers at Columbia University, working under the guidance of Dr. Nicholas Tatonetti, have developed a computational method that allows us to study the relationship between the month of birth and the risk of developing diseases. They used their algorithm to analyze a large medical database of one of the clinics in New York and identified 55 diseases, the frequency of which correlated with the month of birth. People born in May were the healthiest, and those born in October were the most susceptible to various ailments.
The results of earlier studies indicated the existence of a certain relationship between the likelihood of developing certain diseases, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and bronchial asthma, with the time of year in which a person was born, but so far this phenomenon has not been studied in detail. This prompted the authors to conduct work in which they compared the incidence of 1,688 diseases with the dates of birth and medical history of 1.7 million patients treated at the Presbyterian Clinic of New York, a partner of Columbia University Medical Center, in the period from 1985 to 2013.
As a result, 1,600 associations were excluded and 39 relationships previously mentioned in the medical literature were confirmed. 16 new associations were also revealed, including those spreading to 9 types of heart diseases (diseases of the cardiovascular system are the leading cause of death both in the United States and in many other countries of the world).
The new data do not contradict the results of earlier studies on individual diseases. For example, the authors found that the highest risk of developing bronchial asthma is typical for people born in July and October. An earlier Danish study showed that the corresponding risk group includes people born in the months (May and August) when solar radiation activity in Denmark corresponds to the level of solar radiation observed in New York in July and October.
As for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, 675 of the cases analyzed by the authors registered in New York may be associated with the birth in November. At the same time, an earlier Swedish study also showed that the peak levels of occurrence of this syndrome occur in November children.
The researchers also found a relationship between the month of birth and nine types of heart disease. Thus, those born in March are at the highest risk of atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure and mitral valve pathology. One in 40 cases of atrial fibrillation may be associated with the seasonal effect of birth in March. An earlier study, which analyzed medical information about Austrian and Danish patients, showed that people born in the months with the highest risk of developing heart disease have a relatively short life expectancy.
The authors plan to reproduce their study using data collected by other clinics in the United States and other countries in order to establish how the results vary depending on the peculiarities of the change of seasons and other environmental factors. They hope that identifying the causes underlying the dependence of morbidity on the month of birth will help to smooth this dependence.
Article by M. R. Boland et al. Birth Month Affects Lifetime Disease Risk: A Phenome-Wide Method published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Columbia University Medical Center:
Data Scientists Find Connections Between Birth Month and Health.
09.06.2015