The aim of this study was (1) to examine the relation between the monthly rate of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and three cosmophysical activity parameters: solar activity (SA), geomagnetic activity (GMA), and cosmic rays activity (CRA) levels; (2) to study whether different subtypes of AMI: ST-elevation MI (STEMI), non-ST-elevation (NSTEMI), Q-wave (Q-waveMI) and non-Q-wave (NQ-wave MI) are linked with monthly cosmophysical indices or with the daily level (I degrees-IV degrees) of GMA.
Methods: For the first question, we studied for 204 consecutive months (1983-1999) 16,683 patients (including 10405 males) with AMI who were included in the Kaunas Registry and for the second, 3824 AMI patients (2342 males), 72-month data. Cosmophysical data were obtained from the Apatity Neutron Monitoring Station of the Russian Academy of Science.
Results: According to neutron monitoring data, total AMI and all its subtypes significantly correlated with monthly levels of CRA and inversely correlated with SA and GMA indices (r = 0.32-0.45; p = 0.0007-0.0001). No significant correlation was found between AMI subtypes and the daily level (I degrees-IV degrees) of GMA. All cosmophysical parameters were stronger in female patients.
Conclusion: The monthly rates of all subtypes of AMI were significantly correlated with CRA and inversely correlated with SA and GMA, more strongly in female patients. We presume that the environmental factors studied here affect the general patho-physiological components of AMI, and that different subtypes are a consequence of the localization and extent of the process.