Diseases linked to the month you are born

[Kerrie]

(Just for you Monique )

Found this article regarding the disease tendencies of what month people are born. As a student of astrology myself, I find this information intriguing, however the article does state that these diseases are tied to environmental factors. Then again, aren't the planets a part of our bigger environment?

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/Living/US/disease_month_040203-1.html

 

[loseyourname]

Interesting, but I don't think this is relevant to astrology. Astrology does not postulate that the environment has anything to do with predisposition. Rather, the idea is that these predispositions are cyclical in nature. Because the movement of heavenly bodies is also cyclical, a correlation can be drawn. The correlation, however, is incidental rather than causal. IIRC, ancient astrologers hypothesized that the cause of spatiotemporal cycles in natural phenomena is the same as the cause of temporal cycles in human predispositions. I don't think that the cause itself, however, was believed to be known. It was just some mysterious force that induced movement in material and immaterial entities (similar to Aristotle's intelligences). Because both operated by the same clock, the movements of constellations and planets could be used to predict the movement between dispositional tendencies in newly conceived human beings.

I'm sure Kerrie already knows all of this, but I thought I'd clarify what I could for anyone else reading the thread. I'm no expert on astrology, but my girlfriend is somewhat of a fanatic and I'm hearing this stuff all the time.

 

[loseyourname]

According to the medical reports from your link, a person born in November (me) is more susceptible to asthma, atopic dermatitis, and respiratory syncytial virus. According to an astrological book that my girlfriend just showed me, I (as a Sagittarius) should be more susceptible to alcoholism, hepatitis, and obesity of the hips and thighs.

So it seems that the medical research does not corroborate the astrological predictions.

 

[Kerrie]

i had found the original topic of this article in an astrology website, then did a search of it on my own. to be honest, i am not sure this has much to do with astrology directly either, but i do believe the seasons + environment can play a big role in the tendencies of this diseases. keep in mind too that this is not dictating what disease you will inherit, but just a general study.

loseyourname, does the sagittarian traits seem to be more of your health concerns?

"Because the movement of heavenly bodies is also cyclical, a correlation can be drawn" yes it can, as long as you are calculating each 360 degree aspect of the 9 known planets, plus the sun to the Earth's ecliptic. that is a lot of correlations!

(sagittarians are the philosophers of the zodiac by the way...hehe)

 

[Monique]

I once was told of a scientific article that people born in summer are protected somewhat from getting stroke later in life. I have to catch a train so I'll respond later :)

 

[TenNen]

It is midnight! Take care of yourself or some gangs will take care of you! Okay ?

 

[Monique]

No, it was 7 am

As for the diseases being linked to a month, wouldn't it be rather more likely that the mother changes her diet depending on whether it is winter or summer? Also, hormones levels are different in winter compared to summer. Also, the amount of pollen in the air are different in summer or winter, which could precipitate a risk to asthma.

 

[Kerrie]

your explanation seems most logical monique then an astrological perspective...afterall, astrology is essentially the astro-psychological perspective over the biological.

 

[loseyourname]

loseyourname, does the sagittarian traits seem to be more of your health concerns?

Actually, I'm very thin and almost never touch alcohol. Don't have hepatitis yet, but that one really can't be answered just yet - you never know if I'll be infected later in life, although I have been vaccinated against hepatitis A. The more complete reading advised that Sagittarians should take part in a great deal of physical activity to remain in good health. As of now, that doesn't seem to hold with me. I'm nearly sedentary yet I'm very healthy.

Then again, I don't suffer from any of the ailments that occur more frequently in November births either.

(sagittarians are the philosophers of the zodiac by the way...hehe)

I certainly love wisdom, if you want to translate philosopher literally. I'll always take the empirical approach over the rational, however.

 

[loseyourname]

According to the medical reports from your link, a person born in November (me) is more susceptible to asthma, atopic dermatitis, and respiratory syncytial virus. According to an astrological book that my girlfriend just showed me, I (as a Sagittarius) should be more susceptible to alcoholism, hepatitis, and obesity of the hips and thighs.

So it seems that the medical research does not corroborate the astrological predictions.

I know I'm bringing this back from the dead here, but I just found this running a search of old posts of mine and this really hit me. I had neither at the time, but have since developed both asthma and dermatitis. How in the hell can that have anything to do with the month I was born in?

 

[Moonbear]

I know I'm bringing this back from the dead here, but I just found this running a search of old posts of mine and this really hit me. I had neither at the time, but have since developed both asthma and dermatitis. How in the hell can that have anything to do with the month I was born in?

Nothing. People prone to one form of allergy are prone to others as well, and it doesn't matter what month you're born in.

There are an assortment of poorly done, studies in obscure journals that find a so-called seasonal pattern in one type of disease or another based on birth month. However, if you read the articles, they either only follow people born in a single year, or they have no statistics, so a single month with a numerically higher reporting of a disease gets called a seasonal pattern, or you'll find one study that says March has the highest incidence, while another will tell you it's November, and a third July. Taken together, it all argues against such a pattern.

Edit: The original link is no longer active, but this might be the same information (it at least matches Loseyourname's list of November diseases, and mentions the ABC story).
http://intraspec.ca/month_disease.php

LYN, just for anecdotal comparison, asthma and dematitis are also listed for October, and I'm born in October. I have neither. My sister, born in July, does have asthma and contact dermatitis/eczema, and all sorts of other allergies, but that's not listed for July. You're just more likely to believe the story when your own experience fits with it, but if you look at the experience of others, you'll see it doesn't fit any particular pattern.