RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Geographical variations in deaths from heart disease and the prevalence of diabetes occur in the United States. METHODS: These geographical variations, by state, were compared to the tertiles of the Z-score (Z-climate) obtained from the mean annual temperature and precipitation, by state, and to the tertiles of the Z-score (Z-environment) obtained from six environmental factors, by state, in monovariant analyses of variance. RESULTS: Both Z-scores were significantly related to male heart deaths (Z-climate: p = 0.000009; Z-environment: p = 0.000043) with Z-climate being the most significant. Both Z-scores were significantly related to the 1998 prevalence of diabetes (Z-climate: p = 0.00018; Z-environment: p = 0.0059) with the climate again being the most significant. CONCLUSIONS: Increased temperature can increase magnesium sweat losses, which may not be compensated by diet or water intake. Climate relationships to these diseases need further investigation.
