A possible association between space weather conditions and the risk of acute coronary syndrome in patients with diabetes and the metabolic syndrome.

Abstract

Hyperglycemia negatively affects cardiovascular variables that are also adversely affected by increased geomagnetic activity. It is likely that geomagnetic storms (GS) could have a stronger negative impact on these patients. We analyzed data on 1548 randomly selected patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) who were admitted inpatient treatment in Kaunas city, during 2000-2003. We evaluated the associations of GS, solar proton events (SPE), and high-speed solar wind (HSSW) (solar wind speed ≥600km/s) with the risk of ACS in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and the metabolic syndrome (MS) by using logistic regression with categorical predictors. During days of HSSW, the risk of ACS in DM patients increased by 1.95 times (OR=1.95, 95% CI 1.36-2.79) as compared to days without either of these events or 2days prior to or after them. In the multivariate model, the risk of ACS in DM patients was associated with days of HSSW and 1-2days after (OR=1.40, 95% CI 1.01-1.93), with days of GS lasting >1day and occurring on days of HSSW or 1-2days after (OR=2.31, 95% CI 1.28-4.17), and with the onset of SPE (OR=2.72 (1.09-6.83)). The risk of ACS in MS patients was associated with days of GS and 1-2days prior or after GS (OR=1.31 (1.00-1.73)); an additional impact was established if these days coincided with days of HSSW or 1-2days before (OR=2.16 (1.39-3.35)). These findings suggest that not only GS but also HSSW and changes in space weather conditions prior to SPE affect the human cardiovascular system.