Being Born in Winter Can Mess With Your Head

[SoCalDem]

http://www.livescience.com/20237-birth-season-mental-disorders.html


The season in which a baby is born apparently influences the risk of developing mental disorders later in life, suggests a large new study. The season of birth may affect everything from eyesight and eating habits to birth defects and personality later in life. Past research has also hinted the season one is born in might affect mental health, with scientists suggesting a number of reasons for this apparent effect.

"For example, maternal infections — a mother may be more likely to have the flu over the winter. Does this increase risk?" said researcher Sreeram Ramagopalan, an epidemiologist at Queen Mary University of London. "Or diet. Depending on the season, certain foods — fruits, vegetables — are more or less available, and this may impact on the developing baby." "Or another key candidate is vitamin D, which is related to sunshine exposure," Ramagopalan added. "During the winter, with a lack of sunshine, mums tend to be very deficient in vitamin D."

However, this effect appears very small, and since past studies only looked at several thousand people at a time, there was a chance the link between birth month and later mental health might only be a statistical illusion. Also, prior research often pooled data from different nations, complicating analysis, since population trends can vary substantially between countries. To pin down whether or not there was a link between seasons and the mind, Ramagopalan and his colleagues analyzed a very large number of births, all from the same country.

The scientists investigated whether the risk of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and recurrent depression was influenced by month of birth in England. This included nearly 58,000 patients with the disorders and more than 29 million people from the country's general population

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[Cleita]

1. I was born in February but south of the equator where it was summer.

So, it seems a bit confusing.

[KT2000]

2. also - the prevalence of toxic chemicals

which are plentiful in Spring - yard chemicals, roadside spraying, agricultural drift treating home for insects. Depending upon the age of the fetus, development can be affected, the first three months being critical.

[HopeHoops]

3. Being BORN messes with your head.

[bobthedrummer]

4. It doesn't compare to being born on "...one of the off-world colonies..." though, does it, SoCalDem?

[SoCalDem]

5. I dunno.. I gave birth to 1 November & 2 Decembers

They are okay..so far