Time of birth, residential solar radiation and age at onset of multiple sclerosis

Abstract

BACKGROUNDS/AIM: Gestational and early life events have been suggested to contribute to multiple sclerosis (MS) susceptibility. We assessed the effects of time and place of birth on the age at onset of MS symptoms.

Methods: We selected a national cohort of 967 veterans from the Multiple Sclerosis Surveillance Registry for whom month and season (time) of birth, and birthplace (city and state) were available. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to examine the association between time of birth, birthplace latitude and solar radiation, and the age at onset of MS symptoms among the study sample.

Results: Patients with a relapsing form of the disease (R-MS), who were born in winter and whose birthplace was in low solar radiation areas, had disease symptom onset on average 2.8 years earlier than those born in seasons other than winter and in medium- and high-solar radiation areas (p = 0.02).

Conclusions: These results suggest that exposure early in life to geographical and seasonal factors, possibly related to the protective effect of sunlight, and thus vitamin D, is associated with a delay in MS symptom onset. Other larger studies are required to examine the period-specific (from conception to adulthood) environmental factors that are associated with MS susceptibility.

Fig. 1

Mean daily solar radiation (source: US Department of Commerce, 1968) superimposed on the longitude and latitude map of the United States [29]. Low-level solar radiation (< 350 Langley) states include: AK, CT, ME, MA, MI, MN, NH, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, VT, WA and WI. Medium-level solar radiation (≥ 350–400 Langley) states include: AR, DE, DC, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MD, MO, MT, NE, NJ, NC, ND, SD, TN, VA, and WV. High-level solar radiation (> 400 Langley) states include: AL, AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, LA, MS, NV, NM, OK, SC, TX, UT, WY, and PR.