Document Detail


Seasonal variation of twin births in Washington State.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  7976109     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Twin births are known to vary across seasons in several countries. It has been hypothesized that this variation may be due to seasonal changes in luminosity leading to pineal gland-mediated multiovulation among susceptible mothers. To describe seasonal variation of twin births in Washington State, all mothers residing in Washington State who gave birth to both a pair of twins and a singleton baby between 1984-1990 (n = 1168) were identified through linkage of computerized State birth certificates. Using a "matched-on-mother" case-control design, the estimated month of conception of twin gestations (the "case" events) were compared to that for their singleton siblings (the "control" events) to determine their relative occurrence during periods of high vs low sunlight in accordance with local climatological data. For the study population as a whole, there was only a slight tendency for twins to have been conceived during the period of high sunlight compared to their singleton siblings (OR = 1.3, 95% C.I. = 1.0-1.7). When stratified by concordant-sex vs discordant-sex, however, more discordant-sex twin pairs were conceived during the light period than corresponding singletons (OR = 1.7, 95% C.I. = 1.0-2.8), whereas no association was found for concordant-sex twins (OR = 1.1, 95% C.I. = 0.8-1.6). The presence of an association only among discordant-sex twins, all of whom are dizygotic, is consistent with the hypothesis that exposure to sunlight may stimulate multiple ovulation, and thus increase the incidence of twin gestations among twin-prone mothers.
Authors:
C E Dionne; M Söderström; S M Schwartz
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Acta geneticae medicae et gemellologiae     Volume:  42     ISSN:  0001-5660     ISO Abbreviation:  Acta Genet Med Gemellol (Roma)     Publication Date:  1993  
Date Detail:
Created Date:  1994-12-08     Completed Date:  1994-12-08     Revised Date:  2004-11-17    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0370314     Medline TA:  Acta Genet Med Gemellol (Roma)     Country:  ITALY    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  141-9     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adolescent
Adult
Birth Certificates
Birth Rate
Case-Control Studies
Female
Gestational Age
Gonadotropins, Pituitary / secretion
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Male
Melatonin / secretion
Middle Aged
Models, Biological
Odds Ratio
Parity
Pregnancy
Pregnancy, Multiple / statistics & numerical data
Seasons*
Sunlight
Superovulation / radiation effects
Twins / statistics & numerical data*
Twins, Dizygotic / statistics & numerical data
Twins, Monozygotic / statistics & numerical data
Washington / epidemiology
Chemical
Reg. No./Substance:
0/Gonadotropins, Pituitary; 73-31-4/Melatonin

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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