Season of birth is different in Inuit suicide victims born into Traditional than into Modern Lifestyle: a register study from Greenland

摘要

BackgroundThere is growing evidence that living conditions at birth play a role in medical conditions later in life. Population-based studies from the Northern Hemisphere have shown that persons born in the spring or summer are at greater risk of committing suicide. A statistical correlation with light availability at birth has been observed in past research, but the cause remains unknown. Greenland is one of the most extreme of natural human habitats with regard to seasonal changes in light. The combination of rapid social changes and reliable population statistics offers a unique opportunity to make comparisons between persons born into a Traditional Lifestyle and those born into a Modern Lifestyle. The aim of this work was to assess whether season of birth differed between suicide victims born into an old or into a modern lifestyle.