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The influence of meteorological and geomagnetic factors on acute myocardial infarction and brain stroke in Moscow, Russia

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Abstract

Evidence of the impact of air temperature and pressure on cardiovascular morbidity is still quite limited and controversial, and even less is known about the potential influence of geomagnetic activity. The objective of this study was to assess impacts of air temperature, barometric pressure and geomagnetic activity on hospitalizations with myocardial infarctions and brain strokes. We studied 2,833 myocardial infarctions and 1,096 brain strokes registered in two Moscow hospitals between 1992 and 2005. Daily event rates were linked with meteorological and geomagnetic conditions, using generalized linear model with controls for day of the week, seasonal and long-term trends. The number of myocardial infarctions decreased with temperature, displayed a U-shaped relationship with pressure and variations in pressure, and increased with geomagnetic activity. The number of strokes increased with temperature, daily temperature range and geomagnetic activity. Detrimental effects on strokes of low pressure and falling pressure were observed. Relative risks of infarctions and strokes during geomagnetic storms were 1.29 (95 % CI 1.19–1.40) and 1.25 (1.10–1.42), respectively. The number of strokes doubled during cold spells. The influence of barometric pressure on hospitalizations was relatively greater than the influence of geomagnetic activity, and the influence of temperature was greater than the influence of pressure. Brain strokes were more sensitive to inclement weather than myocardial infarctions. This paper provides quantitative estimates of the expected increases in hospital admissions on the worst days and can help to develop preventive health plans for cardiovascular diseases.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Julia Shugai from the Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics for her consultations on geomagnetic field issues. This research was supported by the grant program of Presidium of Russian Academy of Sciences “Fundamental Sciences for Medicine”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Health Laboratory, Institute of Forecasting, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation

    Dmitry Shaposhnikov & Boris Revich

  2. Central Hospital of Joint-Stock Company Russian Railways, Moscow, Russian Federation

    Yuri Gurfinkel

  3. Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

    Elena Naumova

  4. Institute of Forecasting, Nakhimovsky Prospect 47, Moscow, 117418, Russia

    Dmitry Shaposhnikov

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  1. Dmitry Shaposhnikov
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Correspondence to Dmitry Shaposhnikov.

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Shaposhnikov, D., Revich, B., Gurfinkel, Y. et al. The influence of meteorological and geomagnetic factors on acute myocardial infarction and brain stroke in Moscow, Russia. Int J Biometeorol 58, 799–808 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-013-0660-0

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