In a significant finding, an analysis spanning nearly four decades has revealed that young men living in the US are overall more likely to die in the summer months.
Published in eLife, the study used data on 85,854,176 deaths in the US between 1980 and 2016 from the vital registration and found that men and women aged 45 years and older remain more likely to die in winter, regardless of the regional climate.
The data was analysed using a technique called wavelet analysis, where death rates are studied through a kind of “moving window” over time, revealing changes.
“It is well established that death rates vary throughout the year, but there is limited information on how this seasonality varies by local climate and how it has changed over time for different diseases and at different ages,” explained lead author Robbie Parks, PhD student at Imperial College London, UK.
The research team found that deaths from overall mortality (any cause of death) in men aged 45 years and older and women aged 35 years and older peaked in December, January or February, and were lowest in June to August
“Deaths from heart and lung diseases were highest in January and February and lowest in July and August regardless of age,” the team said. Over the 37 years, the per-cent differences in seasonal death rates changed little for people aged 45 and older. (IANS)
