MONTH OF BIRTH SHAPES YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

 

photo: heraldsun.au

The development of a babies' immune system is a process that can be influenced by many environmental factors, but one of the most intuitive has been a secret until now: what month you are born can decide what immune system you develop, or at least how strong.

And that is because the immune system development is tied to the levels of vitamin D, which are affected by the month of birth.  

Another discovery that came along in the study, was that the probability of getting Multiple Sclerosis was also tied to the month of birth.  This reiterates the suspicion raised by previous researchers that the incidence of MS and the levels of vit D in early development are inextricably linked.

The development of Multiple Sclerosis is a complicated process however, in which many factors are at play, and vit D levels are only one aspect, although increasingly its weight seems to be larger than other factors.

The proof of the month-of-birth immune development discovery has been bolstered by the geographical region in which is was conducted.  In the case of England for example, the month of birth cause of MS incidence was even more marked, due to the longer winter and less sun exposure.  

What researchers found was that the risk of MS peaks in those people who are born in May and falls in those who are delivered in November.  Since the prenatal months are at stake in the development of the child and it depends on the vit D that is absorbed by the mother during gestation, there seem to be a concrete link between MS development and sun exposure.  

In fact cord blood, from the umbilical cord of the delivered babies was tested for vitamin D levels, and so too were tested the autoreactive T-cells.  Autoreactive T Cells are white blood cells that 'turn' on the body's own cells and therefore can cause autoimmune diseases such as MS and others.  

The tests found that May babies had much lower levels of vit D, but also much higher levels of autoreactive T cells compared to babies delivered in November. 

The discovery also pointed to the need for further studies to determine whether supplementation of vit D in pregnant women could reduce the risk of autoimmune diseases.

 Source: Science Daily 4.11.13