Development of heart block in SSA/SSB autoantibody-positive pregnancies is associated with maternal age and display a season-of-birth pattern

ObjectiveCongenital heart block may develop in the fetuses of Ro/SSA-positive and La/SSB-positive mothers. Recurrence rates of only 10–20% despite persisting maternal antibodies indicate that additional factors are critical for the establishment of heart block. The authors investigated the influence of other maternal and fetal factors on heart block development in a Swedish population-based cohort.MethodsThe influence of fetal gender, maternal age, parity and time of birth on heart block development was analysed in 145 families, including Ro/La-positive (n=190) and Ro/La-negative (n=165) pregnancies.ResultsThere was a recurrence rate of 12.1% in Ro/La-positive women, and no recurrence in Ro/La-negative women. Fetal gender and parity did not influence the development of heart block in either group. Maternal age in Ro/La-positive pregnancies with a child affected by heart block was, however, significantly higher than in pregnancies resulting in babies without heart block (p<0.05).Seasonal timing of pregnancy influenced the outcome. Gestational susceptibility weeks 18–24 occurring during January–March correlated with a higher proportion of children with heart block and lower vitamin D levels during the same period in a representative sample of Swedish women and a corresponding higher proportion of children with heart block born in the summer (p<0.02). Maternal age or seasonal timing of pregnancy did not affect the outcome in Ro/La-negative pregnancies.ConclusionThis study identifies maternal age and seasonal timing of pregnancy as novel risk factors for heart block development in children of Ro/La-positive women. These observations may be useful for counselling when pregnancy is considered.

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Season of Birth and Exceptional Longevity: Comparative Study of American Centenarians, Their Siblings, and Spouses

Journal of Aging Research ◽

10.4061/2011/104616 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 2011 ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Leonid A. Gavrilov ◽

Natalia S. Gavrilova

Keyword(s):

Early Life ◽

Genetic Background ◽

Conditional Logistic Regression ◽

The United States ◽

Season Of Birth ◽

Human Aging ◽

Month Of Birth ◽

Early Life Programming ◽

Family Analysis ◽

Birth Pattern

This study explores the effects of month of birth (a proxy for early-life environmental influences) on the chances of survival to age 100. Months of birth for 1,574 validated centenarians born in the United States in 1880–1895 were compared to the same information obtained for centenarians' 10,885 shorter-lived siblings and 1,083 spouses. Comparison was conducted using a within-family analysis by the method of conditional logistic regression, which allows researchers to control for unobserved shared childhood or adulthood environment and common genetic background. It was found that months of birth have significant long-lasting effect on survival to age 100: siblings born in September–November have higher odds to become centenarians compared to siblings born in March. A similar month-of-birth pattern was found for centenarian spouses. These results support the idea of early-life programming of human aging and longevity.

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Electrodermal orienting response, maternal age, and season of birth in schizophrenia

Psychiatry Research ◽

10.1016/0165-1781(91)90133-a ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 36 (2) ◽

pp. 223-232 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Lennart S. Öhlund ◽

Arne Öhman ◽

Lars-Göran Öst ◽

Leif H. Lindström ◽

Ing-Marie Wieselgren

Keyword(s):

Maternal Age ◽

Orienting Response ◽

Season Of Birth

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Birth Order, Maternal Age, Season of Birth, and Handedness

Cortex ◽

10.1016/s0010-9452(83)80027-6 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 451-463 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Nathlie A. Badian

Keyword(s):

Birth Order ◽

Maternal Age ◽

Season Of Birth

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Season of Birth, Age and Negative Symptoms in a Xhosa Schizophrenia Sample from the Southern Hemisphere

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1080/j.1440-1614.2006.01870.x ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 40 (8) ◽

pp. 698-703 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Esmè R. Jordaan ◽

Dana J.H. Niehaus ◽

Liezl Koen ◽

Cathlene Seller ◽

Irene Mbanga ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Negative Symptoms ◽

Seasonal Pattern ◽

Season Of Birth ◽

Eastern Cape ◽

Birth Season ◽

Symptom Profiles ◽

Study Support ◽

Birth Pattern ◽

Relationship Of ◽

Seasonality Of Birth

Objectives: Seasonality of birth, more specifically winter/spring births, has been implicated as a risk factor for the development of schizophrenia. The primary aim of this study was to determine whether schizophrenia patients of Xhosa ethnicity born in autumn/ winter have different symptom profiles to those born in spring/summer. The secondary aim was to determine whether the autumn/winter and spring/summer birth rates for schizophrenia patients of Xhosa ethnicity were similar to that of the general Xhosa population. Method: Individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, born in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa (n = 386), were categorized as autumn/winter-born (March to August) patients or summer/spring-born (September to February) patients. Negative global scores of the schedules for the assessment of negative symptoms were categorized as normal (rating of 0 and 1) or positive (rating of 2 to 5). Results: Patients born in autumn/winter were more likely to have avolition/apathy than those born in summer/spring. The results also showed that the age of the patients played a significant role in modifying the effect of the season of birth on symptoms of schizophrenia. Especially older people (more than 30 years old) born in autumn/winter had a higher incidence of avolition/apathy than those born in summer/spring (p = 0.026). Furthermore, in the relationship of birth season and avolition/apathy, the marital status of the patient was a significant independent explanatory variable, while gender was not. The study also showed a spring excess of 4% in birth rate compared with the general Xhosa population. Conclusion: The results from our study support the existence of a seasonal birth pattern in an African schizophrenia population and suggest that avolition/apathy may underpin this seasonal pattern.

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Schizophrenia, season of birth, and maternal age

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.155.1.128a ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 155 (1) ◽

pp. 128-128

Author(s):

Pak Sham

Keyword(s):

Maternal Age ◽

Season Of Birth

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A Technique for Comparing the Relative Importance of Season of Conception and Season of Birth: Application to Emotionally Disturbed Children

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.118.544.329 ◽

1971 ◽

Vol 118 (544) ◽

pp. 329-335 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Thomas F. McNeil ◽

Carol S. Raff ◽

Rue L. Cromwell

Keyword(s):

Emotionally Disturbed ◽

Lower Class ◽

Season Of Birth ◽

Psychiatric Disturbance ◽

Public And Private ◽

Normal Populations ◽

Public And Private Hospitals ◽

The Many ◽

Birth Pattern ◽

Seasonality Of Birth

Numerous studies have related psychiatric disturbance to season of birth. Barry and Barry (1961) cited nine independent studies which concluded that mentally ill persons, especially schizophrenics, tend to have been born during the first four months of the calendar year. Hare and Price (1969) reported more recent evidence of similar seasonal birth trends for large groups of hospitalized British schizophrenics and manic-depressives, as compared with neurotics. Barry and Barry (1964) later suggested that the seasonal birth pattern may be more relevant to middle and lower class schizophrenics than to upper class schizophrenics from private mental hospitals. Orme (1963) upheld this seasonality of birth pattern among less intelligent but not among more intelligent psychotics. Norris and Chowning (1962), who confirmed the seasonal birth pattern among Canadian schizophrenics from both public and private hospitals, observed that the significance of seasonal differences between schizophrenics and normal populations depends upon which population birth years are selected for comparison. Norris and Chowning therefore suggest that the seasonal birth trend among schizophrenics may be the result of random variations in birth rate together with post-hoc grouping of the particular years for comparison. While this interpretation and criticism is tenable for a given study, it has become less tenable as evidence converges from the many independent studies.

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Season of Birth in High and Low Genetic Risk Schizophrenics

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.140.4.410 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 140 (4) ◽

pp. 410-415 ◽

Cited By ~ 61

Author(s):

Eric Shur

Keyword(s):

Family History ◽

Genetic Risk ◽

Psychiatric Illness ◽

Season Of Birth ◽

Damage Factor ◽

High Genetic Risk ◽

History Of ◽

Competing Hypotheses ◽

Birth Pattern ◽

Clear Support

SummaryHypotheses which have been proposed to account for the unusual seasonal birth pattern observed in schizophrenic populations are discussed. These competing hypotheses were tested by retrospectively studying season of birth in 975 schizophrenics divided according to family history of psychiatric illness. Information was obtained from case notes, item sheets, and questionnaires sent to general practitioners. The results were inconclusive, but there was a trend for high genetic risk cases to be born less often in the first quarter of the year. Although no clear support could be provided for one or other season of birth hypothesis, it is tentatively suggested that a seasonal constitutional damage factor may be responsible for the excess of births described in schizophrenic populations in the early months of the year.

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