Triggering multiple sclerosis at conception and early gestation: The variation in ultraviolet radiation is as important as its intensity.

Background and objectives: Medical science needs to further elucidate the role of ultraviolet radiation (UVR), geographic latitude, and the role of vitamin D in the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis (MS). We separated several papers into categories out of the thousands published and used their conclusions to explore the relationship between UVR and MS. Relevance: MS is increasing in incidence, particularly in women where MS is two to three times that in men and particularly severe in African Americans. Methods: We collected UVR data at our observatory in Central Maine and calculated the average coefficient of variation (CVUVR) for each month for 15 years (2007-2021, inclusive). Results: The month of conception (MOC) is more important than the month of birth (MOB) in explaining how UVR triggers the variable genetic predisposition to MS. We hypothesize that the rapidly increasing CVUVR is important in preventing an increase in the activity of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) from August to December, which then requires a higher intensity of UVR later in life to suppress the immune system, therefore predisposing to more MS. Limitations: One observatory at about 44° latitude. Conclusions: While variation in UVR is important at the MOC if UVR exceeds a threshold (e.g., if the sunspot number equals or is greater than 90, usually at a solar cycle MAX, or at elevations above approximately 3,000 feet above sea level), the MS mitigating vitamin D-VDR mechanism is overwhelmed and the genotoxic effects of higher-intensity UVR promote MS in those with a genetic predisposition. What is new in this research: This paper offers a new concept in MS research.

The effect of ultraviolet radiation on the incidence and severity of major mental illness using birth month, birth year, and sunspot data.

Background and objectives: 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). Relevance: 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. Methods: 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. Results: The percent of patients meeting our criterion for severity: SZ = 27%; BPD = 26%; SZ-AFF = 100%. Conclusions: 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. What is new in this research: This paper offers a new paradigm for evaluating the severity of MMI and supports significant epigenetic effects from UVR.

Sunspot data and human longevity.

Solar energy at birth and human lifespan, Journal of Photochemistry & Photobiology B 186 (2018)59-68. This paper uses National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) death data collected from 1979- 2013, inclusive, and average monthly solar intensity as measured by sunspot number collected from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1900-2013, inclusive.

Solar energy at birth and human lifespan.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of UVR at birth and its relationship to lifespan and determine whether there are significant differential effects on sex and race. We test if variation in UVR, as determined by solar cycles (long-term variation), is related to survival as measured by age at death. METHODS: The data used 78 million death records from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) from 1979 to 2013 with accidents, suicides, and war casualties deleted resulted in ~63 million records. Records of persons ≤ 47 years old were also scrubbed because we could not show an effect on lifespan based upon the intensity of solar energy as reflected by sunspot number (SSN). This we hypothesize is due to the protective effect of the hormones associated with growth and reproduction. Also selected were persons afflicted with multiple sclerosis (MS). RESULTS: Males of all races born with a UVR intensity as estimated by sunspot number (SSN) ≤ 90 had an average lifespan of 74.4 years, for females of all races, 78.1 years; males born with >90 had an average lifespan of 66.3 years, for females of all races, 70.2 years, resulting in a lifespan decrease of 8.1 years for males and 8.5 years for females. For African-American males born ≤ 90 SSN, 70.8 years and for >90 SSN, 62.5 years, an 8.3-year decrease; similarly, for African-American females ≤ 90 SSN, 75.0, for >90 SSN, 65.4 years, a 9.6-year decrease. Higher solar energy at birth had an adverse effect on human lifespan. We also found that there were twice as many persons with MS born in >80-90 SSN as in the general population. CONCLUSIONS: There is a statistically significant inverse relationship between exposure to solar energy at birth and average human lifespan. Solar energy by some mechanism alters the epigenome at birth, but the effect of higher solar energy becomes apparent after the age of natural selection.

Indirect evidence that ultraviolet-B radiation mitigates multiple sclerosis in the United States.

This article describes on the relationship of the relative prevalence of persons dying with multiple sclerosis with the latitude of the population centroid of those affected in each of the United States. Regression to zero prevalence occurs at the Tropic of Cancer, the latitude where the Sun is at zenith on the summer solstice and where ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is least attenuated. This observation supports UVR as a mitigating force in multiple sclerosis.

Variation in ultraviolet radiation and diabetes: evidence of an epigenetic effect that modulates diabetics' lifespan.

BACKGROUND: Published research has shown that month-of-birth variations modulate the incidence of adult human diseases. This article explores diabetes type 2 as one of those diseases. This study uses the death records of approximately 829,000 diabetics (approximately 90% were type-2) born before the year 1945 (and dying between 1979 and 2005) to show that variations in adult lifespan vary with ultraviolet radiation (UVR) at solar cycle peaks (MAX, approximately a three-year period) with less at non-peaks (MIN, approximately an eight-year period). The MAX minus MIN (in years) was our measure of sensitivity (for example, responsiveness) to long-term variations in UVR. RESULTS: Diabetics were less sensitive than non-diabetics, and ethnic minorities were more sensitive than whites. Diabetic males gained 6.1 years, and females 2.3 years over non-diabetics, with diabetic males gaining an average of 3.8 years over diabetic females. Most variation in lifespan occurred in those conceived around the seasonal equinoxes, suggesting that the human epigenome at conception is especially influenced by rapid variation in UVR. With rapidly decreasing UVR at conception, lifespan decreased in the better-nourished, white, female diabetic population. CONCLUSIONS: Rapidly changing UVR at the equinoxes modulates the expression of an epigenome involving the conservation of energy, a mechanism especially canalized in women. Decreasing UVR at conception and early gestation stimulates energy conservation in persons we consider 'diabetic' in today's environment of caloric surfeit. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries ethnic minorities had poorer nutrition, laborious work, and leaner bodies, and in that environment a calorie-conserving epigenome was a survival advantage. Ethnic minorities with a similar epigenome lived long enough to express diabetes as we define it today and exceeded the lifespan of their non-diabetic contemporaries, while that epigenome in diabetics in the nutritional environment of today is detrimental to lifespan.

Short and long term variation in ultraviolet radiation and multiple sclerosis.

We examined the role of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) in persons diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in four different populations, Italians, Danish, White and African Americans. We tested whether variation in UVR as determined by seasons (short term variation) and solar cycles (long term variation) is related to MS birth month and to survival as measured by lifespan. Cases were selected from three Italian MS Case Registries (2,737); from the United States National Center for Health Statistics (56,020); and from the Danish Multiple Sclerosis registry (15,900). Chi-square tests were used to study the pattern of month of birth distribution in patients with MS comparing with general population data. T-tests were employed to study solar cycles association with lifespan. A surplus of births was observed in June for White Americans. A decrease of births in October and November, though not significant after multiple testing correction, was observed in the three populations. In White American with MS overall, males and females, we found that solar cycle is associated with lifespan. We found that season and solar cycles have some role in MS susceptibility and life duration. However, this is an exploratory analysis and further work is needed to discern the association.

The effect of solar cycles on human lifespan in the 50 United states: variation in light affects the human genome.

This paper describes the Sun's effect on the human genome as it relates to lifespan and expands our previous study from the State of Maine to the entire United States and the District of Columbia. In the current study we report that those persons conceived and likely born during the peaks (MAX approximately 3years) of approximately 11-year solar cycles lived an average 1.7years less than those conceived and likely born during non-peaks (MIN approximately 8years). Increased energy at solar MAX, albeit relatively a small 0.1% increase from MIN, apparently modifies the human genome/epigenome and engenders changes that predispose to various diseases, thereby shortening lifespan. It is likely that same energy increases beneficial variety in the genome which may enhance adaptability in a changing environment. This study also reports that living at higher elevations increases exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and increases the difference between MAX and MIN in the six states at the highest elevations of their population centroids by approximately 13%, further shortening average lifespan about 3 months. How solar energy affects the genome is still not clear. The mechanism could be quantum mechanical (direct effects at a distance) similar to photosynthesis, or mediated by maternal hormones, chemokines or cytokines. The hypothesis is that specific wavelengths of UVR, experienced at critical times in development as at conception or early gestation, and with specific intensity or rate of change, modulates the expression of human diseases. This hypothesis could be readily testable in mice bred to manifest specific diseases.

Photons and evolution: quantum mechanical processes modulate sexual differentiation.

This paper will show that the fractional difference in the human gender ratio (GR) between the GR(at death) for those born in solar cycle peak years (maxima) and the GR(at death) in those born in solar cycle non-peak years (minima), e.g., 0.023, divided by Pi, yields a reasonable approximation of the quantum mechanical constant, alpha, or the fine structure constant (FSC) approximately 0.007297... or approximately 1/137. This finding is based on a sample of approximately 50 million cases using common, readily available demographic data, e.g., state of birth, birth date, death date, and gender. Physicists Nair, Geim et al. had found precisely the same fractional difference, 0.023, in the absorption of white light (sunlight) by a single-atom thick layer of graphene, a carbon skeleton resembling chicken wire fencing. This absorption fraction, when divided by Pi, yielded the FSC and was the first time this constant could "so directly be assessed practically by the naked eye". As the GR is a reflection of sexual differentiation, this paper reveals that a quantum mechanical process, as manifested by the FSC, is playing a role in the primordial process of replication, a necessary requirement of life. Successful replication is the primary engine driving evolution, which at a biochemical level, is a quantum mechanical process dependent upon photonic energy from the Sun. We propose that a quantum-mechanical, photon-driven chemical evolution preceded natural selection in biology and the mechanisms of mitosis and meiosis are manifestations of this chemical evolution in ancient seas over 3 billion years ago. Evolutionary processes became extant first in self-replicating molecules forced to adapt to high energy photons, mostly likely in the ultraviolet spectrum. These events led to evolution by natural selection as complex mixing of genetic material within species creating the variety needed to match changing environments reflecting the same process initiated at the dawn of life. Both evolutionary mechanisms coexist and are interactive. The periodic energy of solar maxima is likely modulating the human genome from maternal integument to an embryo in utero with non-local mechanisms intrinsic to quantum mechanics.

Peaks of solar cycles affect the gender ratio.

In this study, we report that the gender ratio (GR) at death [where GR=(N(males)/N(males)+N(females))] of those born (and likely conceived) in solar cycle peaks (about a 3-year period occurring on average every approximately 11 years), is inversely related to mean male age at death; e.g., the higher the GR(at death) the lower the mean lifespan, while the GR(at death) of those born in non-peak years has no relation to mean male lifespan. Although changes in the GR are small and may be of little clinical significance, the GR is a sensitive indicator of environmental effects, and therefore is pertinent to epigenetics. This paper supports the hypothesis that solar radiation, probably in the ultraviolet spectrum, by some manner interacts with chromosomal DNA (genes) and produces the genetic variety that not only fosters adaptation, but also produces the diseases that reduce lifespan. This paper also proposes that sunlight is more effective in modifying genomes at the time of conception than later in gestation or infancy. Referring to the work of others, this study also reveals that geographic latitude also affects the GR, suggesting that the variation in light is probably as important as the intensity of light in modifying genomes. This study finds that men sustain more genetic variation, producing 28% more disease than women, as well as a 2% decrease in GR from birth to death, and a shorter life (in Maine) by 7 years.

The light of life: evidence that the sun modulates human lifespan.

UNLABELLED: This paper describes the effects of radiation, probably ultraviolet radiation (UVR), on the human genome at peaks of solar cycles. This phenomenon was not previously reported because peak cycle lifespan had not been separated from non-peak lifespan. This paper reinforces the findings of others regarding the seasonality of various diseases and that there are factors occurring early in utero that increase susceptibility to diseases later in life. The authors use the vital statistics of 320,247 Maine citizens over a 29-year period to show that those born in 3-year peaks of 11-year solar cycles live an average of 1.5 years (CL 1.3-1.7) less than those born in non-peak years. Males are more sensitive than females to this phenomenon, which is statistically demonstrable well into adult life, showing the effect of probable UVR on the early human embryo despite superimposed adult lifetime hazards. The authors also show that changes in seasonal light modulate lifespan differently in males and females and that genome and environment must be tightly interactive early after conception. Published literature supports the hypothesis that UVR suppresses the maternal immune system by producing cytokines in circulating lymphocytes that probably affect the fetal genome. The intermittent and incompletely predictable solar cycles periodically stress the genomes of all life producing genetic changes which may be harmful or adaptive. The evidence presented in this study indicates that solar cycles, particularly the most irradiant which have occurred over the past 65 years, are fundamental engines of evolution, even underlying natural selection, and we bear their marks even to the end of our lives. Future researchers must further define the pathogenesis of solar radiation on early embryonic development to possibly minimize a predisposition to diseases at their origin. BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: This study explores the relationship of season of birth and human lifespan particularly in reference to the intensity of solar radiation that occurs in 11-year cycles. METHODS: The birth years were obtained and lifespan calculated for 320,247 Maine citizens over a 29-year period. Those who were born at 3-year peaks of 11-year solar cycles were separated from those born in non-peak years. Using SAS statistical tools, a randomization technique was used to compare the lifespan between peak and non-peak years to eliminate selection bias, cohort effects, and confounding variables. RESULTS: Those born in peaks of solar cycles lived an average of 1.5 years (CL 1.3-1.7) less than those born in non-peak years. Males were more sensitive to this phenomenon than females. A similar analysis was performed for month of birth and the pattern of peak to non-peak lifespan difference was nearly identical to the pattern of seasonal variation in light. CONCLUSIONS: Lifespan variation appears to be modulated by seasonal light confirming that genome and environment are closely linked very early after conception. Although the precise pathogenesis is still unknown, the phenomenon must involve radiant energy, probably ultraviolet light, possibly affecting the maternal immune system through the dermis. This study also supports the reliability theory of aging which suggests that events affecting the genome early after conception are important in the expression of adult diseases.

Solar cycles and their relationship to human disease and adaptability.

In this paper, we show that 11-year solar cycle peaks predispose humans to disease, but also endow creativity and adaptability. We give several examples of diseases that are modulated by light and present evidence for an effect of intensity and variation in sunlight, primarily ultraviolet radiation (UVR), on the human genome. The birth dates of nearly 237,000 unique clients in the Maine Medicaid database collected from 1995 to 2004, inclusive, were related to solar cycle irradiance for the past seventy-one years, encompassing seven solar cycles. The sample was divided into four general categories of disease: mental/behavioral illnesses; metabolic diseases; autoimmune diseases; neoplasms. The birth months for those clients born in any given year were arranged in the form of a winter/summer ratio in order to more clearly appreciate the seasonality inherent in each disease category. Solar cycles were separated into chaotic (approximately three times as irradiant) or non-chaotic according to the Gutenberg-Richter power law and the uncertainty inherent in predicting solar storms. The results show that radiation peaks in solar cycles and particularly in chaotic solar cycles (CSCs) are associated with a higher incidence of mental disorders, suggesting the sensitivity of ectodermal embryonic tissues to UVR. Autoimmune diseases have intermediate sensitivity, while the neoplasms in the study, primarily of endoderm, appear suppressed by peak UVR intensity. The ratio of the number of clients born in CSC cycles to non-CSC cycles was highest for the more genetic mental diseases, like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but as that ratio decreased, the clients with diseases like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis showed more environmental features manifested as a greater winter/summer birth month ratio that was significantly different than that of the average client in the whole data set. The paper presents evidence that latitude, e.g., variation in light, is an added stress to the immune system (especially at 53-54 degrees N. latitude) that is involved in nearly all human disease. We hypothesize that introns, the presumptive engenderers of gene control, modulate the effects of UVR, particularly for the neoplasms studied. We conclude that intermittent and largely unpredictable peak solar cycle radiation has been the fundamental engine of evolution, forcing organisms to adapt to mutagenic UVR and producing enough damage to instigate genetic variation. Probably a chance genetic mutation over 80,000 years ago produced a human brain capable of abstract thought and consciousness. The slight genetic instability that favored an adaptable, creative brain also produced other somatic variations that present phenotypically as disease, but largely expressed after natural selection (reproduction) and associated with the inexorable entropy of aging.

The Sun determines human longevity: teratogenic effects of chaotic solar radiation.

An association between fertility and longevity has been known for many years, and considerable research has been focused on the mechanisms of ageing that ultimately determine longevity, which has remained essentially unchanged despite a near doubling of human life expectancy in the past 200 years. In this paper, the authors present evidence that the Sun determines the limits of longevity for the longest-living complex organisms. The Sun is a dynamical system and although solar cycles occur every 8-14 years (averaging approximately 11.1 years), the authors show that 28% of these cycles exhibit chaotic features and irregularly release up to 300% more ultraviolet radiation than usual. These chaotic solar cycles create an environment mutagenic to DNA that must be largely avoided in order to pass uncorrupted genes to the next generation. This requirement determines the limits of fertility, e.g., menarche and menopause in humans, and sets longevity to approximately 100 years.

Chaotic solar cycles modulate the incidence and severity of mental illness.

This paper hypothesizes that the intensity of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) from the Sun predisposes humans to polygenic mutation fostering major mental illness (MMI) and other disorders of neurodevelopment. In addition, the variation in the intensity of this radiation acts to stress immune systems, possibly mediated by cytokines, resulting in variable clinical expressions of mental illness and autoimmune disorders. Organisms can adapt to chronic high-intensity UVR by producing melanin and by retaining various pigments. We found that 28% of 11-year solar cycles produce particularly severe solar flares during which UVR is 300% more intense and hence more damaging than normal. Out of a total of six severe cycles in the past 250 years, four have occurred in the past 55 years, possibly explaining the apparent increase in the incidence of MMI in recent decades. UVR is 10 times more mutagenic than ionizing radiation to nuclear DNA, and especially damaging to mitochondrial DNA. However, variable light as manifested by seasons stresses adaptability to UVR, possibly through an immune mechanism. We show that the region of the Earth having the most UVR, relative to the most variation in that light, is at 54 +/-10 degrees (N or S) latitude. Therefore, the most potential damage from sunlight occurs between the Equator and the Poles, not at the Equator itself. The human brain, our most important organ of adaptability, must be able to survive environmental variation, with successful matching to the environment resulting in adaptation. Unsuccessful adaptation to UVR (and possibly other types of radiation) results in mutation, which can produce neuro-chemical abnormalities manifested by MMI. We postulate that the combination of intensity and variation in UVR serves as a global modulator of MMI.

The relationship between the fiscal structure of mental health care systems and cost.

The authors, using State Mental Health Agency (SMHA) data from the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors' Research Institute, show that the amount of state hospital (SH) expenditures is related to suicide rate (SR) as well as to cost per capita for mental health care. The relationship is much stronger for cost per capita especially when the range of SH expenditures is 31-55%, or 43 +/- 12%, of total expenditures. This article hypothesizes that maximum system efficiency occurs when the funding structure of the delivery system reflects a 57%:43% (community [C]/SH) ratio. This ratio was the mean for the 50 states of the United States in 1997, when the national mean SR was 13 per 100,000 of general population. This ratio is identical to the C-to-SH inpatient bed ratio derived theoretically in a previously reported study focusing on fractal (self-similar on all scales) demand for mental health services. The potential for national saving with the redistribution of funding may be as high as $4.5 billion per year, or 23% of SMHA expenditures.

Evidence that latitude is directly related to variation in suicide rates.

OBJECTIVE: To use available suicide-rate data from 20 countries to see patterns and relations more clearly. METHOD: We obtained raw suicide rates from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) database from 1960 through 1997 and calculated averages and standard deviations. RESULTS: There is a positive linear relation between the variation in suicide rate and geographic latitude. CONCLUSIONS: The variation in light-dark cycles is superimposed upon human mood.