The association of geomagnetic storms, solar wind and stream interaction region with hyperglycemia

Abstract

Hyperglycemia associated with the development of neurological symptoms, adversely affects platelet function [1], and is associated with increased blood coagulation [2-3], platelet aggregation, and decreased heart rate variability [4-5], i.e. with markers that are negatively affected by increased geomagnetic activity. There is a possibility that the short period between two geomagnetic storms (separated by 5 or fewer days) or other space weather event has a substantial negative impact on the risk of hyperglycemia in patients with acute coronary syndromes [6]. We investigated the association between cardiovascular characteristics of 1,553 randomly selected patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) who were admitted for inpatient treatment in Kaunas city during 2000–2003 and geomagnetic storms, fast solar wind, or stream interaction regions (SIR). We hypothesized that days of these space weather events, 1-3 days after, and the period between two events, named as intersection days (1-3 days after the event, which coincided with 1-3 days before the event) might be associated with patients’ cardiovascular characteristics. The multivariate logistic regression was applied, and the patients’ risk was evaluated by odds ratio (OR); the combined impact of space weather variables was analyzed. After analysis we found that risk of hyperglycemia on admission during GS intersection days was higher by 2.463 times (p = 0.002). In addition, the SIR (days of the event and 1-3 days before and after) was associated with an increased risk of hyperglycemia during admission. The risk of hyperglycemia detected during hospital admission increased during weekends (OR = 1.79; p < 0.001) and on days classified as “1-3 days before and after SIR” (OR = 1.34; p = 0.037). On days of GS and 1-3 days after that coincided with days of FSW and SIR, the risk increased by 1.57 times (OR = 1.57; p < 0.001). [...]