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4 May 2006

Men and women born in the summer months appear to be more likely than those born in winter months to attempt suicide, with the risk higher for women than men, UK study findings show.

Assessing data on suicide for over 29,000 people, Emad Salib (Liverpool University) and Mario Cortina-Borja (University College London) found that being born in April, May, or June carries a 17% increased risk of committing suicide.

The investigators suggest that the trend is likely to be due to environmental exposure to adverse conditions in the womb as a fetus.

"Our results support the hypotheses that there is a seasonal effect in the monthly birth rates of people who kill themselves and that there is a disproportionate excess of such people born between late spring and midsummer compared with the other months," they say.

The finding correlates with previous research that linked being born in spring or early summer to affective disorders and alcohol dependence – conditions that contribute to around one in 10 deaths from suicide in England and Wales. However, it contrasts with findings that link birth in the winter months to increased risk of schizophrenia, a condition that accounts for around one in 20 cases of suicide.

Data collected between 1979 and 2001 for suicides and deaths for undetermined injury for people born between 1955 and 1966 were used for the study. Analysis showed that those born in the spring and early summer were 17% more likely to commit suicide than those born in autumn and early winter. When the data were considered for each gender, the team found the risk was greater among women than among men, at 29.6% and 13.7%, respectively.

In the British Journal of Psychiatry, Salib and Cortina-Borja suggest that the observed link between month of birth and risk of suicide may be due to in utero exposure to factors such as infections, maternal diet, and environmental toxins, which all show seasonal variation. Such exposures could potentially adversely affect tissue functions, predisposing individuals to neurological and psychiatric disorders in adulthood.

"This could act as a latent risk factor that might enhance other suicide risk factors in some predisposed individuals," explain the researchers.

They add: "This assumption gives us some hope that developmental approaches might improve our understanding of the psychopathology of depression and suicidal behavior and could offer new strategies for treatment and prevention."



Source: Br J Psychiatry 2006; 188: 416–422


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