Sunday, April 27, 2025

According to new research, the month you’re born in could affect your chance of developing certain conditions later in life. Researchers at Columbia University in New York analyzed data from health records. They found significant connections between birth month and certain diseases that could help create new guidelines for pre-natal care. New research says a baby’s birth month can determine more than their horoscope

Medical records of 1.7 million patients for 1700 different conditions, then they linked them back to birth month. They found 55 of those diseases were significantly dependent on birth month. Heart disease was more common in winter babies. People with ADHD were more likely to be born mid fall. Some of these associations had been researched before but many were completely novel. The study’s lead author, Mary Boland, says the trends come from environmental factors associated with different seasons. “Birth month is always used as a proxy for some type of environmental exposure. so either prenatal exposure or perinatal exposure.”

For example, lack of vitamin D in late pregnancy could be behind the prevalence of winter babies with heart disease, and autumn temperatures may be to blame for the rise in respiratory disease among fall babies.

Asthma Specialist, Dr. Doug Mack says this research adds to evidence that early exposure to fall allergens can have a lasting effect. “So it’s something that has really confirmed what we’ve been thinking all along. Dust mite levels can be higher, we have specific types of viral exposures based on that time and some of these early life exposures may set off a cascade of susceptibility that can continue for years and years and years.”

Researchers caution parents not to fret over when their baby was born. While the diseases see spikes associated with certain months, they are influenced by many other factors.