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Season of birth for Alzheimer's disease in the Southern Hemisphere

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

A. S. Henderson ,
A. E. Korten ,
A. F. Jorm ,
E. McCusker ,
H. Creasey  and
G. A. Broe
A. S. Henderson*
Affiliation:
NH & MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra; Department of Geriatric Medicine, Repatriation General Hospital, Concord, Australia
A. E. Korten
Affiliation:
NH & MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra; Department of Geriatric Medicine, Repatriation General Hospital, Concord, Australia
A. F. Jorm
Affiliation:
NH & MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra; Department of Geriatric Medicine, Repatriation General Hospital, Concord, Australia
E. McCusker
Affiliation:
NH & MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra; Department of Geriatric Medicine, Repatriation General Hospital, Concord, Australia
H. Creasey
Affiliation:
NH & MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra; Department of Geriatric Medicine, Repatriation General Hospital, Concord, Australia
G. A. Broe
Affiliation:
NH & MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra; Department of Geriatric Medicine, Repatriation General Hospital, Concord, Australia
*
1Address for correspondence: Professor A. S. Henderson, NH & MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, GPO Box 4. Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
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Synopsis

Season of birth was compared in 170 clinically diagnosed cases of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in Australia and 170 matched controls. A further comparison was made with a large population sample of the elderly. No evidence for seasonality of birth was found. This finding held not only for the total series of 170 cases, but also for the 143 born in the Southern Hemisphere, for sporadic cases, and for those with earlier onset. These negative findings in Australia contrast with the positive finding in London by Philpot et al. (1989).

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , May 1991 , pp. 371 - 374
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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References

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