Birth month associates with risk of coronary artery disease and its complications: A propensity score matched analysis

Season-of-birth phenomenon in health and longevity: epidemiologic evidence and mechanistic considerations

In many human populations, especially those living in regions with pronounced climatic differences between seasons, the most sensitive (prenatal and neonatal) developmental stages occur in contrasting conditions depending on the season of conception. The difference in prenatal and postnatal environments may be a factor significantly affecting human development and risk for later life chronic diseases. Factors potentially contributing to this kind of developmental programming include nutrition, outdoor temperature, infectious exposures, duration of sunlight, vitamin D synthesis, etc. Month of birth is commonly used as a proxy for exposures which vary seasonally around the perinatal period. Season-of-birth patterns have been identified for many chronic health outcomes. In this review, the research evidence for the seasonality of birth in adult-life disorders is provided and potential mechanisms underlying the phenomenon of early life seasonal programming of chronic disease and longevity are discussed.

Fasting Plasma Glucose and Coronary Heart Disease in a Rural Population of North Henan, China

Even in individuals without diabetes, the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) increases with the rise in fasting plasma glucose (FPG); however, the threshold of FPG for CHD in rural areas of China is unclear. We retrospectively examined 2,987 people. Coronary angiography records were used to determine the presence of CHD as well as its severity. Risk factors for CHD and the relationship between different levels of FPG and CHD were analyzed. After adjusting for age, hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking, drinking, chronic kidney disease, and previous ischemic stroke, the incidence of CHD in nondiabetic women began to increase when FPG exceeded 5.2 mmol/L (odds ratio (OR) = 1.438, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.099–1.880, p=0.008), and the degree of coronary artery lesions also became more severe (OR = 1.406, 95% CI = 1.107–1.788, p=0.005). However, no such correlations were found in nondiabetic men. In conclusion, among the nondiabetic women in rural areas of northern Henan, both the incidence of CHD and the severity of lesions increased when FPG levels were greater than 5.2 mmol/L, while no significant correlation between FPG and CHD was observed in diabetes-free men.