Susceptibility of the body functions to atmospheric and geomagnetic factors in healthy men living in Northern Russia

Abstract

The Mars-500 satellite study in northern Russia (the city of Syktyvkar) was performed from April 2009 to November 2011 using the standard ECOSAN-2007 procedure for evaluating the atmospheric and geomagnetic susceptibility of different functional parameters in individuals. Seventeen apparently healthy men aged 25–46 years were examined. The statistical data treatment included the correlation and one-way analysis of variance. The comparison of the number of statistical correlations of the sum of all functional parameters in the subjects showed that they were most often sensitive to atmospheric pressure, temperature, relative humidity, partial oxygen pressure (29–35%), and geomagnetic activity (28%). The dependence of the functional parameters on the rate of air temperature and pressure change was weak and comparable with random coincidence (11%). Among the hemodynamic parameters, systolic blood pressure proved to be the most sensitive to space and terrestrial weather variations (29%), heart rate and diastolic blood pressure ranking next to it (25 and 21%, respectively). Among the heart rate variability (HRV) parameters, the largest number of statistically significant correlations was determined for the centralization index (32%) and high-frequency HRV spectrum (31%); the index of the regulatory system activity was the least dependent (19%). The life index, maximal breath-holding, and Skibinskaya’s cardiorespiratory index are also sensitive. Individual responses of the functional parameters to terrestrial and space weather changes varied in different subjects, which points to the importance of individual approach to evaluations of human responses to external factors.