Many of us already lean on the help of astrologists like Susan Miller for our love lives and careers. According to a new study, the month in which you are born could also reveal what to expect from your health.
It sounds crazy, but data scientists at Columbia University Medical Center discovered a correlation between birth months and risk of developing health problems like ADHD, asthma, heart disease, and hypertension. April baby? Watch out for angina. Born in March? You’re at risk for heart disease.
The researchers used New York City medical databases to analyze 1.7 million people for more than 1,600 diseases and found 55 of those disease were “significantly dependent” on birth month.
If you’re having difficult believing these findings, well, maybe you’re not dreaming big enough
. “The great thing about working in science is that scientists are incredibly open-minded people — as long as you have the data to back up your claims!” Dr. Nicholas Tatonetti, the study’s lead author, told the Huffington Post. Dr. Tatonetti also pointed out that birth month is a what’s known as a “proxy variable” for the environmental factors you’re exposed to — say, extreme cold or extreme heat — during early development. These play a large role in your early development.
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“Seasonality is a proxy for variable environmental factors present at the time of your birth, and we are learning more about the very large role that environment, and gene-environment interactions, plays in our development. This could be one way to start mapping out those gene-environment effects,” said Tatonetti.
Before you run to get your chart done, it’s important to note that the researchers caution that the risks aren’t great enough to cause concern or warrant preventive action. More research still needs to be done into the exact effect environmental exposures have on our genes. “Once we have those mechanisms, then we may be able to make lifestyle and diet recommendations,” said Tatonetti. Until then, keep checking your horoscope.
