NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – More strokes happen when geomagnetic storms are afoot, according to a new review of stroke literature – although it’s not clear what protective measures anyone could take, researchers said.
Geomagnetic storms happen when the Earth’s magnetic field is disturbed by solar winds or coronal mass ejections, which throw out powerful magnetic fields from the sun.
Among more than 11,000 people who had a stroke, the event was almost 20 percent more likely to happen on days with geomagnetic storms, researchers in New Zealand found.
“The results were a big surprise to us,” said lead author Dr. Valery L. Feigin of the National Institute for Stroke and Applied Neurosciences at the School of Rehabilitation and Occupation Studies at Auckland University of Technology.
“What we were particularly surprised with was the size and consistency of the effect of geomagnetic storms on the risk of stroke occurrence, suggesting that geomagnetic storms are significant risk factors for stroke,” Feigin told Reuters Health by email.
And a full moon brings on a dramatic increase in crime. Especially the murder rate. Just ask any police department. Anybody who doesn’t buy into astrology is excluding a big part of the cause and effect variable from every equation. But then lots of people who claim to have open minds actually don’t. Are you listening liberals?