《中英對照讀新聞》Suicide risk linked to month of birth – study 研究發現自殺與出生月份有關聯

◎陳成良

People born in spring or early summer in the northern hemisphere have a 17 percent increased risk of committing suicide than those with birthdays in the autumn or early winter, researchers said.

春季或初夏出生在北半球的人，自殺傾向要比出生在秋季或初冬的人高出17%，研究人員指出。

They found that women born in April, May and June were 29.6 percent more likely to take their own lives while men had a 13.7 increased risk.

他們發現，4、5、6月出生女性自殺傾向高出29.6%，男性則高出13.7%。

"Our results support the hypotheses that there is a seasonal effect in the monthly birth rates of people who kill themselves and that there is a disproportionate excess of such people born between late spring and midsummer compared with the other months," Dr Emad Salib, of Liverpool University, said in a report in the British Journal of Cancer.

「我們的研究結果支持先前的假設，即自殺者出生月份的季節因素確實有影響，而出生於春末至仲夏的人，自殺率要大大高出其他月份出生的人，」利物浦大學薩利卜博士在發表於「英國癌症期刊」的一份報告中指出。

Salib and colleagues analysed data on 26,915 suicides and deaths from undetermined injuries in England and Wales between 1979 and 2001. All of the people involved had been born between 1955 and 1966.

薩利卜和同僚分析了26,915個1979年至2001年間英格蘭和威爾斯所發生的自殺以及不明原因的外傷導致死亡的案例。研究案例中的死者均出生於1955至1966年。

They said seasonal birth trends for illnesses including breast and testicular cancer, coronary heart disease, brain tumours, Crohn's disease and early onset non-Hodgkin's lymphoma had been established.

他們指出，包括乳癌、睪丸癌、冠狀動脈心臟病、腦瘤、克隆氏病（局限性腸炎）以及早期類風濕性關節炎等疾病，與出生季節的關聯性，都已經確立。

新聞辭典

suicide：自殺；自毀。例句：He knew it was political suicide torefuse the offer. （他知道拒絕此一提議會斷送他的政治前程。）常用詞彙commit suicide（自殺）與本文第二段的take one's own life意義相同。

hypotheses：名詞；假設，為hypothesis的複數形態。

disproportionate：形容詞， 不均衡的； 不相稱的， 為proportionate（相稱的）之反義字。