Birth month and longevity - monthly birth distribution in acute coronary events provoked by atherothrombosis in patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

BACKGROUND: Human homeostasis is time related. Environmental physical factors also play a role. Recent studies published by the National Academy of Sciences (USA) describe human longevity links with the month of birth. The aim of this study was to check monthly birth distribution in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) related to atherothrombosis - one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in the industrial world. METHODS: A total of 4732 (3594 men) subjects were included in the study. Patients treated with PCI for AMI in the years 2000 to March 2010 were studied. The population registry specific to 1950 excluded 1024 patients, i.e., those registered as born on January 1 and they were replaced with patients with an average of births from January 2 to 31. A total of 3675 patients were finally studied (2839 men, 836 women). RESULTS: The average monthly birth number was 306±60.38. Significant monthly differences in birth number (q2=21.077, p<0.03) were observed. A higher birth rate in the first four months of the year was revealed, with the exception of February. The number of births in these months exceeded the following two four-month data (q2=20.57, p<0.024). March births exceeded the monthly average by more than two standard deviations (SD) - 462, with an analogical increase for both genders. In May-December births were below average. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with AMI treated with PCI show differences in the month of birth with the majority being born in the first four months of the year and of those most were born in March. Possible implications on pathogenetic clues of atherothrombosis can be assumed.

Congenital heart disease: correlation with fluctuations in cosmophysical activity, 1995-2005.

BACKGROUND: Environmental physical activity is known to be associated with many factors of human homeostasis, such as fetal development, birth number, and some genetic abnormalities. This study sought to investigate possible temporal links between the occurrence of congenital heart disease and solar, geomagnetic, and cosmic ray activities. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study sample include 79,085 infants born live at a tertiary medical center in central Israel from 1995 to 2005, of whom 1739 were diagnosed with congenital heart disease, including 309 with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). The number of infants with congenital heart disease (total and excluding PDA) was analyzed against the values of the physical parameters, as derived from international indices, by year of birth and 1 year before and by month of birth and 9 months before. Pearson correlation coefficients and their probabilities were calculated. RESULTS: The number of cases of infantile congenital heart disease over the 132-month study period significantly correlated with solar activity (r=0.5, p<0.0001) and with cosmic ray activity (r=-0.45, p<0.0001). On analysis by year, correlations were as follows: with solar activity 1 year before delivery, r=0.71, p=0.014, n=11, and at time of delivery, r=0.66, p=0.026; with cosmic ray activity, 1 year before delivery, r=-0.66, p=0.03, and at time of delivery, r=-0.61, p=0.047, n=11. The levels of correlation and probability were higher for solar activity indices at conception (9 months or 1 year before delivery) than at birth. Significance was maintained when cases of PDA were excluded. CONCLUSION: The monthly number of infants born with congenital heart disease is directly correlated with the level of solar activity and inversely correlated with the level of cosmic ray activity during pregnancy, predominantly in the month of conception. The mechanism underlying the possible effect of solar activity on the occurrence of congenital heart disease warrants additional studies.

Timing of life-threatening arrhythmias detected by implantable cardioverter-defibrillators in relation to changes in cosmophysical factors.

BACKGROUND: Studies have linked the natural history of many pathologies with environmental physical activity. This study investigated the relationship between the occurrence of ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation (VT/VF) recorded by implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) and geomagnetic and cosmic ray (neutron) activity. METHODS: The study group included 85 patients (73 men) with cardiomyopathy (80% ischemic) who underwent ICD placement in the years 1995-2006; 74% had a left ventricular ejection fraction of < 30%. Data on the days on which VT/VF occurred (total number of days: 284) and the days on which the patients were treated (total number of treatments: 580) were collected from the ICD records. The findings were analyzed against levels of geomagnetic activity (GMA) (I degree -IV degree) and cosmic ray activity (CRA), derived from international observatories, on the same days and throughout the study period. RESULTS: On days of VT/VF, daily values of GMA level averaged 1.5 +/- 0.7, consistent with level I degree (quiet). The ratios of daily VT/VF episodes and treatment to GMA level for the whole study period were as follows: 1.2 level I; 0.9 level II; 0.69 level III; 0.78 level IV (r = -0.974; p = 0.02). Mean CRA on days of VT/VF was 9246.8 +/- 299.0 imp/min, and for all 4383 days studied, 8805.33 +/- 411.4 imp/min (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with predominantly ischemic cardiomyopathy and severe left ventricular dysfunction, VT/VF occurs more often on days of low GMA and high CRA. Further studies are needed to determine the underlying mechanism of the effect of neutron activity on cardiac electrical instability.

The culprit artery in acute myocardial infarction in different environmental physical activity levels.

BACKGROUND: The timing of acute coronary events may be related to endogenous and exogenous--environmental--factors. AIM: To check if daily levels of geomagnetic activity (GMA) and/or cosmic ray activity (CRA) measured by neutron activity (imp/min) on the Earth's surface are related by timing with specific culprit artery of AMI. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data of PCI for AMI (n=904, 696 men) from 01/2000 to 02/2006 (2251 days) were used for analysis. Daily GMA (I-IV levels) and neutron activity in imp/min were compared with localization of the culprit artery in AMI (LAD, RCA, CRX and Diagonal). The principal consideration was concentrated in the most frequent lesions of LAD (n=422) and RCA (n=332). The cosmophysical data were derived from USA, Russia and Finland. RESULTS: Similar to the whole 2251 days, the PCI were inversely related to GMA (p=0.03) and show a strong tendency to increase at higher CRA (p=0.07). Comparing data on two high (III, IV) and low (I, II) levels of GMA shows that, at high GMA, RCA and LAD lesions were equal; at the more often low daily levels of GMA, accompanied by higher CRA (neutron) activity (p<0.0001), LAD lesions were higher by 30% (chi(2)=-4.064, p=0.04). CONCLUSION: At higher daily levels of GMA, RCA/LAD culprit lesions in AMI are equal; at low GMA and higher CRA (neutron) activity, LAD lesions are predominant.

Clinical cosmobiology: distribution of deaths during 180 months and cosmophysical activity. The Lithuanian study, 1990-2004. The role of cosmic rays.

UNLABELLED: The aim of this study is a next step of our previous, initial, publications--to explore the links between monthly death number (total, and for the major death causes and each gender) with levels of monthly cosmophysical activity in a long-term, big cohort observation. METHODS: Death number during 180 consecutive months from the National Registry of Lithuania for years 1990-2004 were studied. A total of 630,205 deaths were analyzed (333,035 males). For comparison, monthly indices of solar activity, geomagnetic activity, and cosmic ray activity and year and month (1-12) of the study were used. The cosmophysical data were obtained from space research centers in the USA, Russia, and Finland. Statistics. Pearson correlation coefficients (r) and their probabilities (P) between compared parameters were calculated. A multivariate model of prediction was designed. RESULTS: It was a significant correlation between total monthly death number and indices of cosmic ray activity and, inverse, of solar activity; in men stronger than in women. Monthly geomagnetic activity was significantly correlated with traffic accidents, ischemic heart disease/stroke ratio, suicide victim number. Deaths from stroke, noncardiovascular causes, suicide, traffic accidents were related with cosmic ray activity and, inverse, with solar activity. Relationship of ischemic heart disease/stroke ratio to year of observation showed additional evidence for the growing role of stroke in cardiovascular mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Monthly death number is linked to cosmic ray activity, and inverse, to solar activity. Central place of stroke-related deaths in cardiovascular mortality is emerging. Geomagnetic activity, in monthly account, plays a relatively minor role. We presume that forces antagonistic to cosmic ray activity, like solar activity and geomagnetic activity, can prevent some negative biologic effects of cosmic ray.

Monthly number of preterm births and environmental physical activity.

UNLABELLED: Recent studies have reported links between external physical factors and human homeostasis. OBJECTIVE: to determine whether the monthly values of specific physical environmental factors are associated with the monthly number of preterm births in a major medical center in Israel. METHODS: The sample included 1006 infants weighing less than 1500g born live to 774 mothers during 96 consecutive months (1995-2002) at a tertiary medical center in Israel. Monthly values of indices of solar, cosmic ray, and geomagnetic activity for the same period were obtained from national data monitoring facilities in the United States of America, Russia, and Finland. The findings were statistically correlated with the monthly number of preterm births. RESULTS: The number of preterm births correlated with the month of the year (1-12), with a progressive rise in the number of infants born as the year progressed (p = .02). The monthly number of preterm births showed a significant and direct correlation with solar activity indices (r = .32, p = .0016), and a significant and inverse correlation with cosmic ray activity indices (r = -0.3, p = .008). The relation was significant only for singelton births and for the whole group of preterm newborns, but not for multiple pregnancies. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that solar and cosmic ray activity may play a role in the timing of premature labor, however in multiple pregnancies additional factors are dominant.

Acute myocardial infarction occurrence: environmental links - Baku 2003-2005 data.

BACKGROUND: Despite substantial progress in modern preventive and clinical cardiology, acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains a central acute cardiac event. The aim of this study was to check the basic daily environmental-physical conditions accompanying the occurrence of AMIs in a specific geographic area: Baku, Azerbaijan. MATERIAL/METHODS: AMIs registered in the Baku area by 21 first-aid stations (n=4919) during 2003-2005 were compared with daily geomagnetic activity (GMA) levels (I(0)-IV(0)) and cosmic ray activity (CRA), described by neutron (imp/min) and solar activity. The same comparison was made for pre-admission fatal AMIs (n=440). The cosmophysical data came from space science centers in the USA, Russia, and Finland. RESULTS: AMI morbidity followed a daily distribution according to GMA, mostly on quiet (I(0)) GMA days. A monthly comparison showed inverse relationships with solar activity and GMA and correlation with CRA. The daily clinical parameters of AMI correlated with CRA. Despite the daily rise in AMI mortality on days with the highest GMA, the days with the lowest GMA and higher CRA were predominant for AMI occurrence and pre-admission mortality. One of the possible predisposing factors can be life-threatening arrhythmia. CONCLUSIONS: The monthly number of AMIs was inversely related to monthly solar activity and correlated with CRA-neutron activity. Pre-admission AMI mortality was inversely linked with GMA. Daily AMI pre-admission mortality rose with concomitant GMA; low-GMA and higher-neutron-activity AMIs occurred much more frequently and were more strongly related to the number of fatal pre-admission AMIs. The clinical course of AMI was linked with CRA level.

Dynamics of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level and cosmophysical activity.

BACKGROUND: C-reactive protein (CRP), an acute phase reactant, plays an important part in the investigation of the role of inflammation in pathology. Many cardiovascular events show significant associations with various cosmophysical parameters. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the level of CRP and the levels of solar, geomagnetic (GMA), and cosmic ray activity. METHODS: The results of 25,399 serum CRP tests carried out over a 3-year period were compared with the monthly and daily levels of solar, geomagnetic, and cosmic ray activity during the same period. The cosmophysical data were obtained from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the U.S. and from the Russian Academy of Science. RESULTS: On a monthly basis, CRP levels showed no correlation with GMA (n=36, r=0.258, p=0.13), but there was a significant inverse relationship with neutron activity (r=-0.35, p=0.03). For the daily comparisons, CRP levels were significantly correlated with GMA (n=1057, r=0.97, p=0.02), and there was a significant inverse relationship with neutron activity (r=-0.97, p=0.025). Daily neutron activity was higher on days with CRP levels of 0-1.0 mg/dl (n=289) and above1.0-1.5 mg/dl (n=1213) than on days with higher CRP values (>1.5; n=23,897; p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: The level of serum CRP, in addition to its association with inflammation, is related to the daily level of GMA and inversely to the level of neutron activity.