WHAT IS THE BIRTHDAY EFFECT?
ALEX MERCADO, MANCHESTER
When our special day rolls around, we’re often torn between celebrating another year of wisdom and dreading the march of time. But the ‘birthday effect’ adds a curious twist to this age-old celebration.
The birthday effect is a statistical phenomenon (and a real party pooper) in which a person’s likelihood of dying is higher on, or around, their birthday. This somewhat gloomy discovery has been validated by various studies, such as the 2012 Swiss study, which identified a 13.8 per cent rise in the number of people aged 60 and older who meet their end on their actual birthdays, compared to other days. Similarly, a 2015 study in the US found that, on average, the risk of dying on your birthday is 6.7 per cent higher.