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Month of Birth and Dementia Late in Life

Monat der Geburt und Demenz spät im Leben

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Social Demography Forschung an der Schnittstelle von Soziologie und Demografie

Abstract

Dementia is one of the most common, still incurable diseases of old age, with high costs for the patient, the family and the society. Scholars of dementia have identified important risk factors in mid-life but little attention has been devoted to the earliest period in life. This article extends the research about risk factors of dementia to the time around birth. We start by discussing the influential theories of fetal programming and of the thrifty phenotype, and briefly contrast these theories with life-course approaches and the theory of the accumulation of advantage or disadvantage over the life course. Our own empirical study is based on an exogenous indicator of the early life environment, namely the month of birth. We present the theoretical background of using this indicator and discuss others such as famines, epidemics, and macro-economic fluctuations. Using data from the largest public health insurer in Germany we explore the relationship between the month of birth and dementia and find that the winter-born have the lowest risk of developing dementia. We present the pros and cons of using claims data in the study of dementia and discuss research findings that may shed light on the biological mechanisms underlying our finding.

Zusammenfassung

Demenzen sind einer der häufigsten Erkrankungen im Alter mit hohen Kosten für die Gesellschaft. Während in der Demenzforschung vaskuläre Risikofaktoren im mittleren Lebensabschnitt im Vordergrund stehen, weitet dieser Beitrag den Blick auf die Lebensphase um den Zeitpunkt der Geburt aus. Wir stellen kurz die Theorien der metabolischen Programmierung des Fötus durch Umwelteinflüsse (fetal programming), des Missverhältnisses von Umwelteinflüssen während der Entwicklung des Fötus und der ersten Lebensjahre (thrifty phenotype) sowie der Lebenslaufepidemiologie vor. Unsere eigene empirische Studie beruht auf dem Geburtsmonat, einem exogenen Indikator früher Lebensumstände. Wir besprechen den theoretischen Hintergrund dieses Indikators sowie Forschungsergebnisse zu weiteren exogenen Indikatoren wie Hungersnöte, Epidemien und makro-ökonomische Fluktuationen. Auf Basis von Daten der größten gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung in Deutschland finden wir ein signifikant niedrigeres Demenzrisiko für die im Winter Geborenen. Wir diskutieren Vor – und Nachteile von Abrechnungsdaten für die Demenzforschung und präsentieren Forschungsergebnisse zu biologischen Mechanismen, die den von uns gefundenen Zusammenhang erklären können.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Sociology and Demography, University of Rostock, Ulmenstr. 69, 18057, Rostock, Germany

    Gabriele Doblhammer

  2. Deutschen Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen, Standort Rostock/Greifswald, Gehlsheimer Str. 20, 18147, Rostock, Germany

    Thomas Fritze

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  1. Gabriele Doblhammer
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Doblhammer, G., Fritze, T. (2016). Month of Birth and Dementia Late in Life. In: Hank, K., Kreyenfeld, M. (eds) Social Demography Forschung an der Schnittstelle von Soziologie und Demografie. Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-11490-9_10

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