Rules of Heliogeomagnetics Diversely Coordinating Biological Rhythms and Promoting Human Health

Abstract

This investigation reviews how geomagnetic activity affects the circadian variation in blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) and their variabilities of clinically healthy individuals. A small study in Alta, Norway (latitude of 70.0° N), serves to illustrate the methodology used to outline rules of procedure in exploring heliogeomagnetic effects on human physiology. Volunteers in the Alta study were monitored for at least 2 days between 18 March 2002 and 9 January 2005. Estimates of the circadian characteristics of BP and HR by cosinor and the Maximum Entropy Method (MEM) indicate an increase in the circadian amplitude of systolic (S) BP on geomagnetic-disturbance days compared to quiet days (p = 0.0236). Geomagnetic stimulation was found to be circadian-phase dependent, with stimulation in the evening inducing a 49.2% increase in the circadian amplitude of SBP (p = 0.0003), not observed in relation to stimulation in the morning. In two participants monitored for 7 days, the circadian amplitude of SBP decreased by 23.4% on an extremely disturbed day but increased by 50.3% on moderately disturbed days (p = 0.0044), suggesting a biphasic (hormetic) reaction of the circadian SBP rhythm to geomagnetics. These results indicate a possible role of geomagnetic fluctuations in modulating the circadian system.

Special Issue on “Research on Circadian Rhythms in Health and Disease”

“…Its importance lies in the fact that aging affects the lens structure and modifies light wavelength absorption, causing significant variation in the level of daylight equivalent melanopic illuminance in the retina. Otsuka et al [2] derive rules of heliogeomagnetic coordination of circadian rhythms in blood pressure and heart rate, with illustrations based on data collected above the Arctic Circle. They show that mild, moderate, or extreme geomagnetic activity induce differential changes in circadian parameters (amplitude, acrophase, and period) according to a bell-shaped windowed dose-response curve depending on the intensity of geomagnetic disturbances and on the circadian phase when geomagnetic stimulation occurs.…”