title: Preliminary analysis of month of birth in Iranian/Isfahan patients with multiple sclerosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous publications reported that an individual's month of birth (MOB) might have an important correlation to that consequent risk of multiple sclerosis (MS).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this preliminary study was to investigate the distribution of different MOBs inpatients with MS in Isfahan, Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  This investigation was conducted to the Isfahan Neurosciences Research Centre. 1283 patients with MS were studied. Clinical data were recorded in d-Base and analyzed using SPSS (version 18) for Windows.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the total population studied there were 979 females and 304 males. The mean age of all the patients was 34.6 years (range 10-87 years). Within the total population, the MOBs in the 62% of patients were in the season's spring and summer, and in 38% of patients they were in the season's autumn and winter. As the MOB might be recognized to have a bearing on an individual's risk of contracting MS, the highest and lowest correlations seem to be linked with April, September, May (↑), and November (↓), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The seasonal relationship between MOBs and MS risk might be pointed toward a potential function for vitamin D throughout pregnancy or the early life of the newborn. Further studies are needed to confirm these correlations.
authors.affiliation: Isfahan Neurosciences Research Centre, Alzahra Hospital, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tolou-Ghamari
authors.affiliation: Isfahan Neurosciences Research Centre, Alzahra Hospital, Isfahan, Iran ; Department of Neurology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Vahid
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Shygannejad
authors.affiliation: Isfahan Neurosciences Research Centre, Alzahra Hospital, Isfahan, Iran ; Department of Neurology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Fereshteh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ashtari
authors.affiliation: Isfahan Neurosciences Research Centre, Alzahra Hospital, Isfahan, Iran ; Department of Neurology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chitsaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Abbas Ali
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Palizban
keywords: Iranian population; month of birth; multiple sclerosis; spring