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Wang VA, Leung M, Modest AM, Zilli Vieira CL, Hacker MR, Schwartz J, Coull BA, Koutrakis P, Papatheodorou S. Associations of solar activity and related exposures with fetal growth. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 885:163862. [PMID: 37142041 PMCID: PMC10330664 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2022] [Revised: 04/14/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Solar and geomagnetic activity have been shown to suppress melatonin and to degrade folate levels, important hormones for fetal development. We examined whether solar and geomagnetic activity were associated with fetal growth. METHODS We included 9573 singleton births with 26,879 routine ultrasounds at an academic medical center in Eastern Massachusetts from 2011 through 2016. Sunspot number and Kp index were obtained from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Three exposure windows were considered, including the first 16 weeks of pregnancy, one month prior to fetal growth measurement, and conception until fetal growth measurement (cumulative). Ultrasound scans from which we extracted biparietal diameter, head circumference, femur length, and abdominal circumference measurements were categorized as anatomic (<24 weeks' gestation) or growth scans (≥24 weeks' gestation) based on clinical practice. Ultrasound parameters and birth weight were standardized, and linear mixed models adjusted for long-term trends were fitted. RESULTS Prenatal exposures were positively associated with larger head parameters measured <24 weeks' gestation, negatively associated with smaller fetal parameters measured ≥24 weeks' gestation, and not associated with birth weight. The strongest associations were observed for cumulative exposure in growth scans, where an interquartile range increase in sunspot number (32.87 sunspots) was associated with a -0.17 (95 % CI: -0.26, -0.08), -0.25 (-0.36, -0.15), and -0.13 (95 % CI: -0.23, -0.03) difference in mean biparietal diameter, head circumference, and femur length z-score, respectively. An interquartile range increase in cumulative Kp index (0.49) was associated with a -0.11 (95 % CI: -0.22, -0.01) and -0.11 (95 % CI: -0.20, -0.02) difference in mean head circumference and abdominal circumference z-score, respectively, in growth scans. CONCLUSIONS Solar and geomagnetic activity were associated with fetal growth. Future studies are needed to better understand the impact of these natural phenomena on clinical endpoints.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronica A Wang
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Michael Leung
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Anna M Modest
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Carolina L Zilli Vieira
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Michele R Hacker
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Joel Schwartz
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Brent A Coull
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Petros Koutrakis
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
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Vázquez-Palacios FR, Tovar-Cabañas R. Natural and cultural longevity zones from an anthropological and geographical viewpoint. JOURNAL OF POPULATION AGEING 2022; 15:707-723. [PMID: 35965639 PMCID: PMC9363862 DOI: 10.1007/s12062-022-09370-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2022] [Revised: 05/13/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
There are natural and cultural variables that have an impact on the longevity of older adults. In the case of the former, it is necessary to know and territorialize them, and in the case of the latter, it is necessary to understand them through the analysis of customs and lifestyles. The zones of natural longevity, for this analysis, are those in which low levels of ionizing and ultraviolet radiation converge, as well as the presence of water containing deuterium oxide among its components. To address the cultural longevity zones, an ethnography was carried out in which it was observed that both the consumption of heavy water and the lifestyles generated by the production of coffee and sugar cane prolong life and good old age in the town of El Espinal, municipality of Naolinco, Veracruz.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felipe R. Vázquez-Palacios
- Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social del Golfo, Av. Encanto s/n Col., C.P. 91160 El Mirador, Mexico
| | - Rodrigo Tovar-Cabañas
- El Colegio de Veracruz, Carrillo Puerto No.26, Zona Centro, 91000 Xalapa, Veracruz. CP Mexico
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Mironov VL. Unknown effects of daily-scale solar activity on the plant growth: Data from 6-year growth monitoring of Sphagnum riparium. PHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM 2022; 174:e13733. [PMID: 35699602 DOI: 10.1111/ppl.13733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2022] [Revised: 06/02/2022] [Accepted: 06/09/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The influence of solar activity on plant growth has been studied for over 100 years, however, this phenomenon is still poorly understood on a daily scale. The data from extensive monitoring of the growth of peat moss Sphagnum riparium, which we are conducting in the mires of Karelia (Russia), may shed light on this issue. During the 6 years of observation, 161,190 shoots were measured, and 1075 growth rates were obtained. Considering together the growth rates with the sunspot number and involving data on seasonal temperature, we found previously unknown effects of daily-scale solar activity on plant growth. It was found that the sunspot number weakly but significantly inhibits the growth of Sphagnum. The extreme sunspot number in the 4 days before the growth rate values have a stronger influence. The involvement of temperature data showed that inhibition in growth is observed only in the temperature range from 6.7°C to 15.3°C and disappears beyond these limits. In addition, the data obtained showed that the influence of sunspot number on the growth of Sphagnum is progressively increasing along the gradient from the minimum to the maximum of the 11-year solar cycle. The study provides one of the first results on the effect of solar activity on plant growth on a daily scale. The results expand our knowledge of the biological effects of solar activity. Indirectly, they can also be useful to better our understanding of the ozone layer's involvement in this process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor L Mironov
- Institute of Biology of the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Petrozavodsk, Russia
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Davis GE, Davis MJ, Lowell WE. The effect of ultraviolet radiation on the incidence and severity of major mental illness using birth month, birth year, and sunspot data. Heliyon 2022; 8:e09197. [PMID: 35368522 PMCID: PMC8969152 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2021] [Revised: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- George E Davis
- Riverview Psychiatric Center, 250 Arsenal Street, State House Station #11, Augusta, Maine, 04333-0011, USA
| | - Matthew J Davis
- Riverview Psychiatric Center, 250 Arsenal Street, State House Station #11, Augusta, Maine, 04333-0011, USA
| | - Walter E Lowell
- Riverview Psychiatric Center, 250 Arsenal Street, State House Station #11, Augusta, Maine, 04333-0011, USA
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Cornelissen Guillaume G, Gubin D, Beaty LA, Otsuka K. Some Near- and Far-Environmental Effects on Human Health and Disease with a Focus on the Cardiovascular System. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2020; 17:ijerph17093083. [PMID: 32365467 PMCID: PMC7246689 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17093083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Revised: 04/15/2020] [Accepted: 04/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Environmental effects on human physiopathology are revisited herein from a chronobiologic viewpoint, with a focus on the cardiovascular system. Physiological variables undergo recurring changes that are predictable in a statistical, albeit not deterministic way. Biological rhythms cover a broad range of frequencies, which are usually shared by the environment as “co-periodisms”. Some of these photic and non-photic periodicities shared by the environment and physiopathology are reviewed herein, together with their possible underlying mechanisms. A plausible cascade of events from the long-period cycles found in the cosmic environment to those affecting the Earth’s atmosphere and weather conditions is presented, which may shed light on how they may shape the cycles characterizing human health. Maps of important cycles shared between the environment and physiopathology are being catalogued in an atlas of chronomes with the goal of distinguishing between strong and weak associations and providing an estimate of the lag that can be anticipated before observing physiological changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Germaine Cornelissen Guillaume
- Halberg Chronobiology Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-612-624-6976; Fax: +1-612-624-9989
| | - Denis Gubin
- Department of Biology, Medical University, Tyumen 625023, Russia
| | - Larry A Beaty
- Halberg Chronobiology Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Kuniaki Otsuka
- Executive Medical Center, Totsuka Royal Clinic, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Tokyo 169-0071, Japan
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Davis GE, Lowell WE. Solar energy at birth and human lifespan. JOURNAL OF PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND PHOTOBIOLOGY B-BIOLOGY 2018; 186:59-68. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2018.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2018] [Revised: 06/29/2018] [Accepted: 07/04/2018] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
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Khalaji N, Namyari M, Rasmi Y, Pourjabali M, Chodari L. Protective effect of curcumin on fertility of rats after exposure to compact fluorescent lamps: An experimental study. Int J Reprod Biomed 2018. [DOI: 10.29252/ijrm.16.7.447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
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Khalaji N, Namyari M, Rasmi Y, Pourjabali M, Chodari L. Protective effect of curcumin on fertility of rats after exposure to compact fluorescent lamps: An experimental study. Int J Reprod Biomed 2018; 16:447-454. [PMID: 30234185 PMCID: PMC6129376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2017] [Revised: 05/08/2018] [Accepted: 06/20/2018] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Testicular function is modified by maturational gonadostatic control highly susceptible to negative physiologic niche-altering factors like UV-rays. OBJECTIVE This study was performed in order to uncover new aspects of Compact Florescent Lamps (CFLs) induced damages on the testicular tissue of rats and evaluating the effect of curcumin on testis of rats after exposure to compact florescent Lamps. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-four adult male Albino rats were randomly divided into three groups: control group (ethyl oleate 0.2 ml, IP, for 45 days, without CFLs exposure), fluorescent group (ethyl oleate 0.2 ml, IP, daily and treated with 12 hr CFLs exposure for 45 days) and curcumin group (curcumin 20 µ M, IP along with 12 hr CFLs exposure for 45 days). The rats were anesthetized at the end of the experiment. Gonadotropin hormones and prolactin levels were measured; Histopathological and histomorphometrical analysis of the testis was carried out. RESULTS Results of this study showed that CFLs significantly decreased serum levels of follicle stimulating hormone, prolactin, testicular weight, sperm motility, TDI, and SPI. Furthermore, CFLs had no effect on serum levels of luteinizing hormone and sperm count and also, increased abnormal sperm shapes. Our results also showed that curcumin supplementation following CFLs reversed these alterations. CONCLUSION These results strongly suggest that CFLs severely impairs testis while curcumin as an antioxidant had protective effects on undesirable effects in testis induced by CFLs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naser Khalaji
- Department of Physiology, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran.
| | | | - Yousef Rasmi
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Urmia University Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran.
| | | | - Leila Chodari
- Department of Physiology, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran.
- Neurophysiology Research Center, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran.
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Lucock M, Jones P, Martin C, Beckett E, Yates Z, Furst J, Veysey M. Vitamin D. J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med 2015; 20:310-22. [DOI: 10.1177/2156587215580491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2015] [Accepted: 03/03/2015] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Interest in vitamin D and the VDR gene is increasing as putative roles in human health and evolutionary processes are explored. This review looks beyond the classic biochemistry that links vitamin D to calcium homeostasis; it explores how vitamin D interacts with light in a broader perspective than simple skin photosynthesis. It examines how the vitamin influences circadian rhythm, and how it may have helped drive the evolution of skin pigmentation. To this end, the nutrient–nutrient relationship with folate is also explored. The VDR gene is additionally examined as a factor in the evolutionary selection of skin depigmentation at higher latitudes to allow vitamin D synthesis. Evidence is given to show that VDR polymorphisms exhibit a latitudinal gradient in allele prevalence consistent with such a paradigm. Overall, the review examines new evo-devo ideas that link light-sensitive vitamins to human health/phenotype, both within and across the lifecycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Lucock
- University of Newcastle, Ourimbah, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Patrice Jones
- University of Newcastle, Ourimbah, New South Wales, Australia
| | | | - Emma Beckett
- University of Newcastle, Ourimbah, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Zoe Yates
- University of Newcastle, Ourimbah, New South Wales, Australia
| | - John Furst
- University of Newcastle, Ourimbah, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Martin Veysey
- Central Coast Local Health District, Gosford, New South Wales, Australia
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