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

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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Correcting for artifactual correlation between misreported month of birth and attained height-for-age reduces but does not eliminate measured vulnerability to season of birth in poorer countries

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition ◽

10.1093/ajcn/nqz111 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 110 (2) ◽

pp. 485-497 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Amelia B Finaret ◽

William A Masters

Keyword(s):

Seasonal Variation ◽

Measurement Error ◽

Early Life ◽

National Level ◽

National Income ◽

Demographic And Health Surveys ◽

Season Of Birth ◽

Month Of Birth ◽

Nutrition Research ◽

Height For Age

ABSTRACT Background Height-for-age z-scores (HAZ) are associated with month of birth (MOB) in many nutrition surveys, but that link could be an artifactual result of measurement error in child birthdates. Objective We corrected estimates of the associations between HAZ and MOB for a common type of age misreporting, to measure the remaining seasonality in HAZ and identify country characteristics associated with vulnerability to seasonal changes in early life. Design We used nationally representative repeated cross-sections from all available Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), totaling 1,363,806 children from 218 surveys in 72 countries over 1986–2016, to estimate the seasonal patterns in HAZ by MOB within each survey. Then, we corrected these estimates for each survey's random errors in recorded birth month implied by differences in attained height between children reported as born in December of one year versus January of the next. Indicators of seasonal variation between other months were modeled as functions of national-level incomes using linear regression, and visualizations were constructed using nonparametric local polynomial smoothing regressions. Results Over all surveys, misreporting MOB accounted for about one-eighth of the gap in attained height between the worst and best months to be born, which averaged 0.41 HAZ in the raw data and 0.34 HAZ after correction for age misreporting. A linear correction reduced apparent seasonality of HAZ by MOB in 49 of 72 countries, and the remaining nonartifactual differences by season of birth were larger in countries with lower average income per capita. Conclusions Measurement error in child MOB helps to explain the association between attained height and seasonal variation in early life environments, but significant seasonality in HAZ by MOB remains in many poor countries. Higher national income is associated with smoother outcomes across birth months, and birth registration efforts would improve nutrition research.

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Differences in lifespan by month of birth for the United States: the impact of early life events and conditions on late life mortality

10.4054/mpidr-wp-2002-019 ◽

2002 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Gabriele Doblhammer

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Life Events ◽

Early Life ◽

Late Life ◽

The United States ◽

Month Of Birth ◽

Early Life Events ◽

The Impact

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Resilience in Adolescence: Prospective Self Moderates the Association of Early Life Adversity with Psychopathology

10.31234/osf.io/g2yb9 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Mary Elizabeth Zinn ◽

Edward Huntley ◽

Daniel Keating

Keyword(s):

Behavior Problems ◽

Identity Formation ◽

Externalizing Behavior ◽

Early Life ◽

The United States ◽

Externalizing Behavior Problems ◽

Developmental Period ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Early Life Adversity ◽

Latent Construct

Introduction. Early life adversity (ELA) can result in negative health-outcomes, including psychopathology. Evidence suggests that adolescence is a critical developmental period for processing ELA. Identity formation, which is crucial to this developmental period, may moderate the effect between ELA and psychopathology. One potential moderating variable associated with identity formation is Prospective Self, a latent construct comprised of future-oriented attitudes and behaviors.Methods. Participants are from the first wave of an ongoing longitudinal study designed to characterize behavioral and cognitive correlates of risk behavior trajectories. A community sample of 10th and 12th grade adolescents (N = 2017, 55% female) were recruited from nine public school districts across eight Southeastern Michigan counties in the United States. Data were collected in schools during school hours or after school via self-report, computer-administered surveys. Structural equation modeling was used in the present study to assess Prospective Self as a latent construct and to evaluate the relationship between ELA, psychopathology, and Prospective Self.Results. Preliminary findings indicated a satisfactory fit for the construct Prospective Self. The predicted negative associations between Prospective Self and psychopathology were found and evidence of moderation was observed for externalizing behavior problems, such that the effects of ELA were lower for individuals with higher levels of Prospective Self. Conclusion. These results support the role of Prospective Self in conferring resilience against externalizing behavior problems associated with ELA among adolescents. Keywords: Adolescence, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Psychopathology, Self-concept, Adolescent Health, Early Life Adversity

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Diet-induced dysbiosis of the maternal gut microbiome in early life programming of neurodevelopmental disorders

Neuroscience Research ◽

10.1016/j.neures.2021.05.003 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Claudia M. Di Gesù ◽

Lisa M. Matz ◽

Shelly A. Buffington

Keyword(s):

Gut Microbiome ◽

Neurodevelopmental Disorders ◽

Early Life ◽

Early Life Programming

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Early life programming of adult ischemic heart disease within and across generations: the role of the socioeconomic context

Social Science & Medicine ◽

10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113811 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 113811

Author(s):

Muhammad Zakir Hossin ◽

Daniel Falkstedt ◽

Peter Allebeck ◽

Gita Mishra ◽

Ilona Koupil

Keyword(s):

Heart Disease ◽

Ischemic Heart Disease ◽

Early Life ◽

Ischemic Heart ◽

Socioeconomic Context ◽

Early Life Programming

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Polygenic risk for schizophrenia and season of birth within the UK Biobank cohort

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291718000454 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 49 (15) ◽

pp. 2499-2504 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Valentina Escott-Price ◽

Daniel J. Smith ◽

Kimberley Kendall ◽

Joey Ward ◽

George Kirov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Exposure ◽

Copy Number Variants ◽

Season Of Birth ◽

Uk Biobank ◽

Month Of Birth ◽

Risk Alleles ◽

Gene Environment ◽

Increased Risk ◽

The Uk ◽

Pathogenic Process

AbstractBackgroundThere is strong evidence that people born in winter and in spring have a small increased risk of schizophrenia. As this ‘season of birth’ effect underpins some of the most influential hypotheses concerning potentially modifiable risk exposures, it is important to exclude other possible explanations for the phenomenon.MethodsHere we sought to determine whether the season of birth effect reflects gene-environment confounding rather than a pathogenic process indexing environmental exposure. We directly measured, in 136 538 participants from the UK Biobank (UKBB), the burdens of common schizophrenia risk alleles and of copy number variants known to increase the risk for the disorder, and tested whether these were correlated with a season of birth.ResultsNeither genetic measure was associated with season or month of birth within the UKBB sample.ConclusionsAs our study was highly powered to detect small effects, we conclude that the season of birth effect in schizophrenia reflects a true pathogenic effect of environmental exposure.

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The Infant Gut Resistome is Associated with E. coli and Early-life Exposures

10.21203/rs.3.rs-52285/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Rebecca M. Lebeaux ◽

Modupe O. Coker ◽

Erika F. Dade ◽

Thomas J. Palys ◽

Hilary G. Morrison ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Antibiotic Resistance ◽

Relative Risk ◽

Relative Abundance ◽

Gut Microbiome ◽

Early Life ◽

The United States ◽

Delivery Mode ◽

Metagenomic Sequencing ◽

E Coli ◽

Early Life Exposures

Abstract Background: Antibiotic resistance is an increasing threat to human health. The human gut microbiome harbors a collection of bacterial antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) known as the resistome. The factors associated with establishment of the resistome in early life are not well understood and clarifying these factors would inform strategies to decrease antibiotic resistance. We investigated the early-life exposures and taxonomic signatures associated with resistome development over the first year of life in a large, prospective cohort in the United States. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing was used to profile both microbial composition and ARGs in stool samples collected at 6 weeks and 1 year of age from infants enrolled in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study. Negative binomial regression and statistical modeling was used to examine infant factors such as sex, delivery mode, feeding method, gestational age, antibiotic exposure, and infant gut microbiome composition in relation to the diversity and relative abundance of ARGs.Results: Metagenomic sequencing was performed on paired samples from 195 full term (at least 37 weeks’ gestation) and 15 late preterm (33-36 weeks’ gestation) infants. 6-week samples compared to 1-year samples had 4.37 times (95% CI: 3.54-5.39) the rate of harboring ARGs. The majority of ARGs that were at a greater relative abundance at 6 weeks (chi-squared p < 0.01) worked through the mechanism of antibiotic efflux (i.e., by pumping antibiotics out of the cell). The overall relative abundance of the resistome was strongly correlated with Proteobacteria (Spearman correlation = 78.9%) and specifically E. coli (62.2%) relative abundance in the gut microbiome. Among infant characteristics, delivery mode was most strongly associated with the diversity and relative abundance of ARGs. Infants born via cesarean delivery had a higher risk of harboring unique ARGs [relative risk = 1.12 (95% CI: 0.97 – 1.29)] as well as a having an increased risk for overall ARG relative abundance [relative risk = 1.43 (95% CI: 1.12 – 1.84)] at 1 year compared to infants born vaginally. Additionally, 6 specific ARGs were at a greater relative abundance in infants delivered by cesarean section compared to vaginally delivered infants across both time points. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the developing infant gut resistome may be alterable by early-life exposures. Establishing the extent to which infant characteristics and early-life exposures impact the resistome can ultimately lead to interventions that decrease the transmission of ARGs and thus the possibility of antibiotic resistant life threatening infections.

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Cabbage and Sauerkraut Consumption in Adolescence and Adulthood and Breast Cancer Risk among US-Resident Polish Migrant Women

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182010795 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (20) ◽

pp. 10795

Author(s):

Dorothy Rybaczyk Pathak ◽

Aryeh D. Stein ◽

Jian-Ping He ◽

Mary M. Noel ◽

Larry Hembroff ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Breast Cancer Risk ◽

Cancer Risk ◽

Vegetable Intake ◽

Conditional Logistic Regression ◽

The United States ◽

Population Based ◽

Cook County ◽

Migrant Women ◽

Incidence And Mortality

Background: Breast cancer (BC) incidence and mortality are lower in Poland than in the United States (US). However, Polish-born migrant women to US approach the higher BC mortality rates of US women. We evaluated the association between consumption of cabbage/sauerkraut foods and BC risk in Polish-born migrants to US. Methods: We conducted a case–control study of BC among Polish-born migrants in Cook County and the Detroit Metropolitan Area. Cases (n = 131) were 20–79 years old with histological/cytological confirmation of invasive BC. Population-based controls (n = 284) were frequency matched to cases on age and residence. Food frequency questionnaires assessed diet during adulthood and age 12–13 years. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated with conditional logistic regression. Consumption of total, raw/short-cooked, and long-cooked cabbage/sauerkraut foods was categorized as low, medium, or high (frequency of servings/week). Results: Higher consumption of total and raw/short-cooked cabbage/sauerkraut foods, during both adolescence and adulthood, was associated with a significantly lower BC risk. Consumption of long-cooked cabbage/sauerkraut foods was low and not significantly associated with risk. The multivariate OR for total cabbage/sauerkraut consumption, high vs. low (> 4 vs. ≤ 2 servings/week) during adolescence was 0.36 (95% CI = 0.18–0.71, ptrend < 0.01) and 0.50 (95% CI = 0.23–1.06, ptrend = 0.08) during adulthood. For raw/short-cooked cabbage/sauerkraut (>3 vs. ≤1.5 servings/week), the ORs were 0.35 (95% CI = 0.16–0.72, ptrend < 0.01) during adolescence and 0.37 (95% CI = 0.17–0.78, ptrend < 0.01) during adulthood. For joint adolescent/adult consumption of raw/short-cooked cabbage/sauerkraut foods, (high, high) vs. (low, low), the OR was 0.23 (95% CI = 0.07–0.65). The significant association for high adolescent consumption of raw/short-cooked cabbage/sauerkraut foods and reduced BC risk was consistent across all levels of consumption in adulthood. Conclusion: Greater consumption of total and raw/short-cooked cabbage/sauerkraut foods either during adolescence or adulthood was associated with significantly reduced BC risk among Polish migrant women. These findings contribute to the growing literature suggesting a protective effect of a potentially modifiable factor, cruciferous vegetable intake, on breast cancer risk.

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