Solar and geomagnetic activity have positive impact on children with asthma
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Key takeaways:
- Interplanetary magnetic field and sunspot increases were associated with improvements in FEV1 and FVC.
- Children who did not have any allergic sensitizations saw greater improvements.
WASHINGTON — Solar and geomagnetic activity may improve symptoms and lung function among urban children with asthma, according to data presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference.
Children who have asthma but who do not have any allergic sensitivities may particularly benefit, Julia X. Lee, MD, second-year fellow in the division of pulmonary medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Caroline Mortelliti, MD candidate at SUNY Upstate Medical University, and colleagues wrote in the study.
The effects of solar and geomagnetic activity (SGMA) on adults have been explored before, Lee told Healio.
“We know that it leads to worse cardiovascular outcomes. It leads to worse neurologic diseases, oncologic diseases and immune dysfunction. In immune dysfunction specifically, it has been shown to cause some immune suppression,” Lee said.
“So, we hope to explore the relationship between these activity levels with asthma outcomes in children, and we used allergens as an effect modifier,” she continued.
The researchers hypothesized that they would see better asthma outcomes with increased SGMA because there would be decreased inflammation.
Using NASA data from 2008 to 2013, the researchers examined the number of sunspots (SN), which are areas of strong solar magnetic fields; interplanetary magnetic fields (IMFs), which are extensions of the sun’s solar magnetic field; and the planetary K (Kp) index, which describes the level of magnetic field disturbances on Earth caused by solar particle radiation.
“We looked at 2008 to 2013 because our study cohort was gathered at that time,” Lee said. “This data was correlating with solar cycle 24, which is a non-remarkable cycle. It’s like all the other cycles we’ve seen before.”
Each cycle is about 11 years long.
“We captured, fortuitously, right at the beginning of a solar cycle, up to when it was going to peak,” Lee said.
The researchers then measured these SGMA results against fractional exhaled nitric oxide, asthma symptom days (ASD), FEV1, and forced vital capacity (FVC), as well as the effect modification of allergen sensitization for each outcome.
The cohort included 326 children with asthma from the northeastern US (median age, 8.5; interquartile range, 7-9.8; 52.1% boys). Also, 70.2% reported sensitivity to an allergen, including cat (35.3%), cockroach (21.2%), dog (10.1%), dust mite (34.7%) and mouse (28.5%).
Increases in IMF were associated with significant improvements in ASD (–0.152; standard error [SE], 0.052; P = .004), FEV1 (3.066%; SE, 0.894; P = .007) and FVC (3.062%; SE, 0.884; P = .006).
Similarly, increases in SN were associated with significant improvements in ASD (–0.003; SE, 0.001; P = .001), FEV1 (0.061%; SE, 0.019; P = .002) and FVC (0.059%; SE, 0.019; P = .002).
Increases in the Kp index were associated with significant improvements in ASD (–0.028; SE, 0.011; P = .011), FEV1 (0.604%; SE, 0.195; P = .002) and FVC (0.65%; SE, 0.193; P = .001) as well.
Notably, FEV1 and FVC increased by approximately 3.1% with each 1 nano-Tesla (nT) increase in IMF, which ranged from 1.4 nT to 21.3 nT.
“Three percent does sound modest, but it is with a very strong P value,” Lee said.
Also, there was a nonsignificant trend toward lower FeNO with increases in SGMA.
“I suspect that’s because we didn’t start capturing the FeNO data until a few years into the study,” Lee said.
Also, children who did not have sensitivities to allergens had significantly fewer ASD with exposure to SN (P = .037) and Kp (P = .028) as well as improved FEV1 (P = .031) and FVC (P = .018) than children with sensitivities.
“We suspect this is because when you have asthma with a comorbidity of allergies, you are just more inflamed at baseline, so you don’t see as much of an effect,” Lee said.
There may be multiple factors behind these effects that SGMA has on children with asthma, Lee continued.
For example, she said, SGMA activity could cause cell membrane distortion, which causes ion channel abnormalities and cell surface changes implicated in heart attacks, heart failure and other diseases in adults. Also, increased SGMA levels can lead to the production of reactive oxygen species, resulting in oxidative stress.
“In terms of the immune dysfunction portion of it, [SGMA] causes circadian rhythm dysfunction,” Lee said.
Circadian rhythm dysregulation leads to autonomic nervous system dysfunction, which ties closely with immunity, she continued.
“You see decreased white cells activity, decreased eosinophils, mast cells, IL-6, IL-5, and other inflammatory markers,” Lee said.
Melatonin, which also is connected to the immune system, may play a role as well, Lee added.
“It decreases the amount of melatonin that your body produces, which can lead to immune dysfunction,” she said.
The researchers plan on continuing their work.
“One of the limitations to this study is the fact that it’s only half of a solar cycle, so it would be interesting to see the other half and see if these relationships exist,” Lee said. “We also see vitamin D levels being associated with asthma outcomes as well, so it would be interesting to gather that information into the analysis.”
Although these results are interesting, Lee said, there are not many takeaways that doctors can use from them to improve care.
“We are not changing the axis of the rotation of the Earth, or anything that profound,” Lee said. “But maybe it’s just as simple as having children go outside more and play outside.”
For more information:
Julia X. Lee, MD, can be reached at julia.lee@childrens.harvard.edu.