How your birth month affects what disease you'll get

Caroline Mortimer
Wednesday 10 June 2015 11:09 EDT
Comments
The time of year you are born affects your body's ability to fend off certain diseases
The time of year you are born affects your body's ability to fend off certain diseases (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Bad news if you are an October baby because according to new research you are at a higher risk of illness than if you were born in any other month.

Researchers at Columbia University in New York have found evidence of a small correlation between the month of your birth and your risk of developing certain illnesses.

Using an algorithm they developed, the scientists looked at the medical record of nearly two million New Yorkers born in the Columbia University Medical Center between 1900 and 2000 to study the incidents of 1,688 different conditions, for a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

They found that people in October were the most likely to suffer from a range of different conditions such as chest infections but babies born in May and August had the lowest risk of disease.

Dr Nicholas Tatonetti, an assistant professor of biomedical informatics who lead the study said: “It’s important not to get overly nervous about these results because even though we found significant associations the overall disease risk is not that great.

“The risk related to birth month is relatively minor when compared to more influential variables like diet and exercise.”

The scientists hope the findings can help researchers uncover new disease risk factors.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in