Simulated sudden increase in geomagnetic activity and its effect on heart rate variability: Experimental verification of correlation studies

The Possible Effect of Space Weather Factors on Various Physiological Systems of the Human Organism

A systematic review of heliobiological studies of the last 25 years devoted to the study of the potential influence of space weather factors on human health and well-being was carried out. We proposed three criteria (coordinates), according to which the work on solar–biospheric relations was systematized: the time scale of data sampling (years, days, hours, minutes); the level of organization of the biological system under study (population, group, individual, body system); and the degree of system response (norm, adaptation, failure of adaptation (illness), disaster (death)). This systematic review demonstrates that three parameters mentioned above are closely related in the existing heliobiological studies: the larger the selected time scale, the higher the level of estimated biological system organization and the stronger the potential response degree is. The long-term studies are devoted to the possible influence of solar activity on population disasters, i.e., significant increases in morbidity and mortality. On a daily scale, a probable effect of geomagnetic storms and other space weather events on short-term local outbreaks of morbidity is shown as well as on cases of deterioration in people functional state. On an intraday scale, in the regular functioning mode, the heart and brain rhythms of healthy people turn to be synchronized with geomagnetic field variations in some frequency ranges, which apparently is the necessary organism’s existence element. The applicability of different space weather indices at different data sampling rates, the need to take into account the contribution of meteorological factors, and the prospects for an individual approach in heliobiology are discussed. The modern important results of experiments on modeling the action of magnetic storms in laboratory conditions and the substantiation of possible theoreical mechanisms are described. These results provide an experimental and theoretical basis for studies of possible connections of space weather and human health.

Effects of the local and geocosmic environment on the efficacy of Energy Medicine treatments: An exploratory study

INTRODUCTION

Outcomes of medical treatments tend to be highly variable. Some of the underlying variance is due to well-known factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, and effects of local weather. There are also less obvious influences including variations in solar wind, the Earth's geomagnetic field, and the interplanetary magnetic field. This study explored possible effects of these local and solar/geomagnetic variables on the outcomes of energy medicine treatments. The context was a pilot clinical trial involving 17 energy medicine practitioners who treated a total of 190 participants presenting with hand and wrist pain.

METHODS

Eighteen environmental variables were correlated against changes in subjective pain and against changes in objective measures of nerve conduction velocity.

RESULTS

The results showed that local barometric pressure, interplanetary magnetic field, lunar illumination, proton fluence, electron fluence, and solar radio flux showed statistically significant relationships with these health outcomes (at p < 0.05 or better) before correction for multiple comparison corrections. The variable of barometric pressure had a robust correlation with nerve conduction velocity, surviving adjustment for false discovery rate among the 18 variables at p < 0.05.

DISCUSSION

This study lends support for future research into local weather, and potentially also to fluctuations in the solar/geomagnetic environment environmental measures as potential sources of variation in energy medicine sessions.

Extremely-low frequency magnetic field exposure for simulating geomagnetic pulsations in Alexandrium pacificum and Gymnodinium catenatum cultures

Growth and chain formation in cultures of the chain-forming dinoflagellates Alexandrium pacificum and Gymnodinium catenatum were previously found to be susceptible to space weather variables. A clock drive was used to deliver a frequency of 0.5 Hz and central amplitude of 7 µT in order to perform in vitro simulation of geomagnetic pulsations (composed of extremely low-frequency magnetic fields, ELFMF) which occur during high geomagnetic activity (GMA) periods. Short-term exposure (hours) to this ELFMF increased relative cell growth around 10 nT of naturally occurring GMA. Relative growth outside these intervals gradually approached 0% or was negative for G. catenatum. Differential survival to a subsequent shock was inversely related to growth, and minimal survival coincided with the same 10 nT interval. Relative growth and survival displayed opposite hormetic curves towards GMA: inverted U-shaped for growth, and J-shaped for survival. After exposure to this ELFMF, positive phototaxis response was not lost, but the percentage of cells swimming was slightly reduced. Long-term exposure (days) increased relative growth in A. pacificum but reduced in G. catenatum when low GMA was taking place. These alterations in growth were both associated with a reduction in the cellular pool of mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs). MAAs that are more susceptible to oxidation were more reduced than those resistant, highlighting that an ELFMF can act by increasing cellular oxidative stress status. The higher susceptibility of G. catenatum found is in compliance with the previous association of its natural populations at the western Iberia coast with periods of solar activity minima and GMA minima.

Associations between Quasi-biennial Oscillation phase, solar wind, geomagnetic activity, and the incidence of acute myocardial infarction

An increase in the daily rate of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has been observed during days of geomagnetic storm (GS). However, the analysis of associations between the daily number of AMI and geomagnetic activity (GMA) over longer periods sometimes yields controversial results. The study aimed to detect the complex association between the daily numbers of AMI and weather, the Quasi-biennial Oscillation (QBO) phase, GMA, and solar wind variables. We used data of Kaunas population-based Ischemic Heart Disease Register of residents of Kaunas city (Lithuania) for 2000-2012. The associations between weather and space weather variables and the daily number of AMI were evaluated by applying the multivariate Poisson regression. A higher risk of AMI was positively associated with active-stormy local GMA (rate ratio (RR) = 1.06 (95% CI 1.01-1.10)), solar wind dynamic pressure with a lag of 4 days (RR = 1.02 (1.01-1.04) per 1 nPa increase), and solar wind speed with a lag of 3-7 days (RR = 1.03 (1.01-1.05) per 100 km/s increase). A positive association was found between the west QBO phase and the risk of AMI during winter (RR = 1.08 (1.01-1.16)), and a negative association was observed between them during March-November (RR = 0.93 (0.90-0.97)). The risk of AMI positively associated with the GS due to stream interaction regions with a lag of 0-2 days during the east QBO phase (RR = 1.10, p = 0.046) and was negatively associated with them during the west QBO phase (RR = 0.82, p = 0.024). These results may help understand the population's sensitivity under different weather and space weather conditions. The QBO phase may modify the effect of GS.

Impairment in behavioral sedation in rats during periods of elevated global geomagnetic activity

The influence of the geomagnetic environment on the human organism and other biological entities has been a topic of intense scientific investigation. A large and growing body of evidence has linked elevated geomagnetic activity with effects on an array of neurological, immunological, cardiovascular, and psychological outcomes. For example, elevations in the rates of epileptic seizures, suicides, aggressive behavior, sleep disturbances, and sudden unexpected death from cardiac pathologies have been reported to occur more frequently on days associated with increased geomagnetic activity. Additional evidence also suggests that geomagnetic conditions might have an impact on the biological actions of specific drugs classes that have important implications for pain management, sedation, and seizure control. The present study set out to determine if periods of enhanced geomagnetic activity could influence the induction of behavioral sedation by pentobarbital in rodents undergoing a routine surgical procedure. The surgical records of 250 subjects were retrospectively analyzed, and the occurrence of complete behavioral sedation (e.g., loss of righting reflex, lack of nociceptive response to tail pinch, absence of corneal and conjunctive reflexes) was noted. We found a significant correlation between periods of increased geomagnetic activity and the number of non-responsive surgical patients (i.e., patients still demonstrating behavioral responsiveness after treatment with pentobarbital). These findings provide evidence for the first time that the potential efficacy of some surgical anesthetic compounds might be reduced on days associated with increased geomagnetic activity. Potential mechanisms are presented, and the broad implications of these findings to phenomena such as surgical awareness are discussed.

Geomagnetic storm under laboratory conditions: randomized experiment

The influence of the previously recorded geomagnetic storm (GS) on human cardiovascular system and microcirculation has been studied under laboratory conditions. Healthy volunteers in lying position were exposed under two artificially created conditions: quiet (Q) and storm (S). The Q regime playbacks a noise-free magnetic field (MF) which is closed to the natural geomagnetic conditions on Moscow's latitude. The S regime playbacks the initially recorded 6-h geomagnetic storm which is repeated four times sequentially. The cardiovascular response to the GS impact was assessed by measuring capillary blood velocity (CBV) and blood pressure (BP) and by the analysis of the 24-h ECG recording. A storm-to-quiet ratio for the cardio intervals (CI) and the heart rate variability (HRV) was introduced in order to reveal the average over group significant differences of HRV. An individual sensitivity to the GS was estimated using the autocorrelation function analysis of the high-frequency (HF) part of the CI spectrum. The autocorrelation analysis allowed for detection a group of subjects of study which autocorrelation functions (ACF) react differently in the Q and S regimes of exposure.