(June 8, 2015) Columbia
University scientists have developed a computational method to investigate the
relationship between birth month and disease risk. The researchers used this
algorithm to examine New York City medical databases and found 55 diseases that
correlated with the season of birth. Overall, the study indicated people born
in May had the lowest disease risk, and those born in October the highest. The
study was published this week in the Journal of American Medical Informatics
Association.
“This data could help scientists uncover new disease risk
factors,” said study senior author Nicholas Tatonetti, PhD, an assistant
professor of biomedical informatics at Columbia University Medical Center
(CUMC) and Columbia’s Data Science Institute. The researchers plan to replicate
their study with data from several other locations in the U.S. and abroad to
see how results vary with the change of seasons and environmental factors in
those places. By identifying what’s causing disease disparities by birth month,
the researchers hope to figure out how they might close the gap.