The Month In Which You Were Born Can Determine Diabetes Risk

A new study from Columbia University used a huge data set to determine how the date a person is born affects their likelihood of being diagnosed with diabetes. The researchers studied over 10 million health records in three different countries and found links between birth month and lifetime diabetes risks.

The goal is not to change how people are planning births or favor one month over another, but to add to the growing set of data that shows that birth month affects many aspects of a person's life. In this case, it shows what seasonal and environmental factors affect diabetes risks.

Months with less sunlight, such as December and January, result in higher lifetime diabetes risks for those born shortly afterwards.

In other words, when the later stages of pregnancy are in months with low amounts of sunlight, diabetes risks rise for the baby. A previous study focusing on New York City had found this to be the case and this broader study group found the same correlation.

This latest study involved people's medical records from all of the United States, in Taiwan, and in South Korea. This broader group (both ethnically and geographically as well as culturally) meant that this study's outcomes are far less likely to be correlation and more likely to be causation. That was a key problem with the narrower NYC-based study.

Other findings include hypertension being higher in those born in January, heart disease issues being more common in those born in March and April, and asthma being more common in those born in September.

"Basically, we're using the data to connect the dots," says study lead Nicholas Tatonetti. "And by clarifying these connections, it may be possible to find new ways to prevent disease--such as recommending seasonal dosing for some prenatal supplements."

The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

Source: Columbia University