Shocking! Solar storms can give you a Heart attack and KILL you, says study

Aurora lovers need to pay attention! The same solar storm which causes beautiful patterned light-shows across the sky can actually kill you. This is what a 2018 study claims. It was a result of long-term research on the harmful effects of solar storms and other geomagnetic activities on Earth. This is a shocking revelation because earlier it was assumed that solar storms did not affect humans and only electronic devices, power grids and satellites were at risk from the wrath of the Sun. If this study is to be believed, solar storms can not only make existing diseases a lot worse, they can also cause a host of fatal heart and blood pressure related issues in the human body.

Published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) under National Library of Medicine (NLM), a 2018 study titled ‘Long-Term Study of Heart Rate Variability Responses to Changes in the Solar and Geomagnetic Environment’ has made some shocking claims. After a long period of observation and analysis it has found that “Disturbed geomagnetic activity can also exacerbate existing diseases and is correlated with significant increases in cardiac arrhythmia, cardiovascular disease, incidence of myocardial infarction related death, alterations in blood flow, increased blood pressure, and epileptic seizures”.

Solar storms can make your heart diseases worse and kill you

The researchers studied the human heart from multiple participants during geomagnetic activities and found that the sudden variation in Earth’s magnetic field can become a stressor for the human body, “which alter regulatory processes such as melatonin/serotonin balance, blood pressure, breathing, reproductive, immune, neurological, and cardiac system processes”.

The study has also collated data from multiple past research which highlighted an anticipatory reaction in the human body that can arise days before the solar storm hits the Earth. This indicates that just the solar flare eruption itself is enough to cause a spike in our blood pressure and HRV (Heart Rate Variability) levels.

Researchers have found a rather morbid correlation during the study. Collating data from Stoupel et al., it found that “there was a significant rise in emergency calls and overall deaths” during periods of low geomagnetic activities. The most amount of increase was seen in cerebral strokes and sudden cardiac arrests.

As NCBI is not a journal but a portal, it is hard to say if the study has been peer-reviewed. However, if this is true, a severe solar storm striking the Earth can also cause a drastic health crisis.