Relationship between suicide and myocardial infarction with regard to changing physical environmental conditions

Abstract

In recent years, the possible association of changes in mortality from cardiovascular disease and myocardial infarction (MI) and deaths related to violence and the suicide rate has been repeatedly discussed. This study examined the relationship between cosmic physical changes (solar, geomagnetic and other space activity parameters) and changes in the total number of in-hospital and MI-related deaths and deaths from suicide to determine if a relationship exists between the distribution of total and MI-related deaths with suicide over time; some differences in the serotonergic mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of MI and suicide were also taken into account. All suicides (n = 2359) registered in the State of Israel from 1981 to 1989 (108 months) were analysed and compared with the total number of deaths (n = 15601) and deaths from MI (n = 1573) in a large university hospital over 180 months (1974-1989). The following were the main features of the Results. (1) Monthly suicide rate was correlated with space proton flux (r = 0.42, P = 0.0001) and with geomagnetic activity (r = -0.22, P = 0.03). (2) Total hospital and MI-related deaths were correlated with solar activity parameters (r = 0.35, P < 0.001) and radiowave propagation (r = 0.52-0.44, P < 0.001), an with proton flux (r = -0.3 to -0.26, P < 0.01). (3) Monthly suicide distribution over 108 months was correlated with MI (r = -0.33, P = 0.0005) and total hospital mortality (r = -0.22, P = 0.024). (4) Gender differences were prominent.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)