2023-04-20 18:00:00
What if the moment of our birth might affect our future health and even our risk of mortality?
This question has challenged many researchers, with varying degrees of success. Previous research in the northern hemisphere has linked spring or summer birth to a higher risk of death. However, the trend is reversed south of the equator. But, until now, the influence of the month of birth on future health was not clearly defined. A 2019 US study, published in the British Medical Journaloffered an explanation.
According to the researchers, people born in spring and summer are more affected by heart disease than those born in autumn. There might be a link between seasonal fluctuations in diet, air pollution levels as well as exposure to sunlight before birth and in the first months of life.
A study to link month of birth and mortality
To reach this conclusion, the authors of the study used data from 116,911 American nurses recruited in 1976 as part of the Nurses’ Health Study. The aim was to compare the links between the month of birth of the participants and overall mortality, but also the number of deaths linked to cardiovascular diseases.
The participants, aged 30 to 55 at the start of the study, answered a questionnaire every two years regarding their health and their lifestyle. Then, death certificates and medical records were used to determine the causes of death, between 1976 and 2014, a period of 38 years. During the research period, 43,000 participants died, 8,360 of them due to cardiovascular disease.
A higher risk of cardiovascular mortality
Taking into account other family, economic and social factors, the researchers analyzed that women born in spring and summer were affected by a slight excess cardiovascular mortality compared to those born in autumn and winter.
Even though this is an observational study, the researchers believe that the results they obtained “adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting that people born in spring and summer have a higher rate of cardiovascular mortality than those born in fall.”
“Further studies are needed to confirm the current findings and uncover the mechanisms of the seasonal effect of month of birth on cardiovascular mortality.” they concluded.
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