Davis George E, Davis Matthew J, Lowell Walter E
Riverview Psychiatric Center, 250 Arsenal Street, State House Station #11, Augusta, Maine, 04333-0011, USA.
Heliyon. 2022 Mar 25;8(3):e09197. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09197. eCollection 2022 Mar.
The evaluation of the severity of patients afflicted with major mental illness (MMI) has been problematic because of confounding variables and genetic variability. There have been multiple studies that suggest several human diseases, especially schizophrenia, are predisposed to be born in certain months or seasons. This observation implied an epigenetic effect of sunlight, likely ultraviolet radiation (UVR), which is damaging to DNA, especially in an embryo. This paper outlines a method to evaluate the severity of schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar disorder (BPD), and schizoaffective disorder (SZ-AFF) using the month/year of birth of those affected compared to the month/year of birth of the general population (GP).
Our previous research found that more intense UVR (equal to or greater than 90 sunspot number (SSN)) had a negative effect on the average human lifespan. Also, human birth rates vary in frequency by month of birth reflecting variables like availability of food, sunlight, and other unknown epigenetic factors. We wanted to see if the patient month of birth varied from the average birth months of the general population and if UVR has an epigenetic effect promoting these diseases.
We obtained the month and year of birth of 1,233 patients admitted over a 15-year period to Maine's largest state psychiatric hospital and counted the months of birth for each diagnosis of SZ, BPD, and SZ-AFF, and compared these results to the general population's birth months of 4,265,555 persons from U. S. Census Year 2006. The number of patients in each month was normalized to August and compared with the normalized birth months of the general population (GP). Plots of the normalized months were considered rates of change (e.g., derivatives) and their respective integrals gave domains of each mental illness relative to the GP. Normalizing the GP to unity was then related to the factor 1.28, e.g., 28% more entropy, deduced from the Sun's fractal dimension imprinted on biological organisms.
The percent of patients meeting our criterion for severity: SZ = 27%; BPD = 26%; SZ-AFF = 100%.
High UVR intensity or a rapid increase in UVR in early gestation are likely epigenetic triggers of major mental illness. BPD is more epigenetically affected than SZ or SZ-AFF disorders. We found that 52% of 1,233 patients comprised the core function of a tertiary-care psychiatric hospital. Also, mental illness exacerbated when the median SSN doubled. This work also validates the Kraeplinian dichotomy.
This paper offers a new paradigm for evaluating the severity of MMI and supports significant epigenetic effects from UVR.
由于存在混杂变量和基因变异性，对重度精神疾病（MMI）患者的严重程度进行评估一直存在问题。有多项研究表明，几种人类疾病，尤其是精神分裂症，在某些月份或季节出生的可能性更高。这一观察结果暗示了阳光可能存在表观遗传效应，可能是紫外线辐射（UVR），它会对DNA造成损害，尤其是在胚胎中。本文概述了一种评估精神分裂症（SZ）、双相情感障碍（BPD）和分裂情感性障碍（SZ - AFF）严重程度的方法，即比较患者的出生月份/年份与普通人群（GP）的出生月份/年份。
我们之前的研究发现，更强的紫外线辐射（等于或大于90太阳黑子数（SSN））对人类平均寿命有负面影响。此外，人类出生率按出生月份的频率有所不同，这反映了食物供应、阳光和其他未知表观遗传因素等变量。我们想看看患者的出生月份是否与普通人群的平均出生月份不同，以及紫外线辐射是否具有促进这些疾病的表观遗传效应。
我们获取了15年间入住缅因州最大的州立精神病医院的1233名患者的出生月份和年份，并统计了每种精神分裂症、双相情感障碍和分裂情感性障碍诊断的出生月份，然后将这些结果与2006年美国人口普查中4265555人的普通人群出生月份进行比较。每个月的患者人数被归一化为8月，并与普通人群（GP）的归一化出生月份进行比较。归一化月份的图表被视为变化率（例如，导数），其各自的积分给出了每种精神疾病相对于普通人群的范围。将普通人群归一化为1，然后与从印刻在生物有机体上的太阳分形维数推导出的1.28这个因子相关，例如，熵多28%。
符合我们严重程度标准的患者百分比：精神分裂症 = 27%；双相情感障碍 = 26%；分裂情感性障碍 = 100%。
高紫外线辐射强度或妊娠早期紫外线辐射的快速增加可能是重度精神疾病的表观遗传触发因素。双相情感障碍比精神分裂症或分裂情感性障碍受表观遗传影响更大。我们发现，1233名患者中有52%构成了一家三级护理精神病医院的核心功能。此外，当中位数太阳黑子数翻倍时，精神疾病会加剧。这项工作也验证了克雷佩林二分法。
本文为评估重度精神疾病的严重程度提供了一种新范式，并支持紫外线辐射具有显著的表观遗传效应。
