Are the Levels of Lipid Parameters Associated with Biometeorological Conditions?

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Abstract

Lipid disorders, especially hypercholesterolemia, are one of the most thoroughly investigated cardiovascular risk factors. Their correlation with biometeorological conditions has been reported, with authors stressing seasonal increases of total cholesterol (TC) levels, mostly occurring in winter. This study aims at determining the correlation between the level of lipid parameters (LP) and meteorological conditions, analyzing seasonal variations in LP levels, and attempting to answer the following questions: do changes in LP levels result from the organism’s response to cold or heat stress, or are they secondary to seasonal dietary variations? An observational study comprised ambulatory patients from the city of Olsztyn (Poland), for whom laboratory test were performed in 2016–2018, with 106,325 records of TC, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and triglycerides (TG). LP levels were matched with atmospheric conditions on the day when the test was conducted and expressed by the universal thermal climate index (UTCI). We demonstrated seasonal increases of TC in cold stress (in wintertime) and of TG in heat stress (summer). The analysis of LP levels in specific periods revealed the increase of TC levels after holidays (i.e., Christmas and Easter) in men by 4.56%, and the increase of TG levels in women by 13.46% in the same period. Our results suggest the secondary, diet-dependent underlying cause of the observed changes. This work contributes to the discussion concerning the impact of biometeorological factors on LP levels and may be of significance when planning population-dedicated preventive activities.

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Most cited references 38

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Comparison of UTCI to selected thermal indices

Krzysztof Blazejczyk, Yoram Epstein, Gerd Jendritzky … (2011)

Over the past century more than 100 indices have been developed and used to assess bioclimatic conditions for human beings. The majority of these indices are used sporadically or for specific purposes. Some are based on generalized results of measurements (wind chill, cooling power, wet bulb temperature) and some on the empirically observed reactions of the human body to thermal stress (physiological strain, effective temperature). Those indices that are based on human heat balance considerations are referred to as "rational indices". Several simple human heat balance models are known and are used in research and practice. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the newly developed Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), and some of the more prevalent thermal indices. The analysis is based on three groups of data: global data-set, synoptic datasets from Europe, and local scale data from special measurement campaigns of COST Action 730. We found the present indices to express bioclimatic conditions reasonably only under specific meteorological situations, while the UTCI represents specific climates, weather, and locations much better. Furthermore, similar to the human body, the UTCI is very sensitive to changes in ambient stimuli: temperature, solar radiation, wind and humidity. UTCI depicts temporal variability of thermal conditions better than other indices. The UTCI scale is able to express even slight differences in the intensity of meteorological stimuli.

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National, regional, and global trends in serum total cholesterol since 1980: systematic analysis of health examination surveys and epidemiological studies with 321 country-years and 3·0 million participants.

Farshad Farzadfar, Mariel M. Finucane, Goodarz Danaei … (2011)

Data for trends in serum cholesterol are needed to understand the effects of its dietary, lifestyle, and pharmacological determinants; set intervention priorities; and evaluate national programmes. Previous analyses of trends in serum cholesterol were limited to a few countries, with no consistent and comparable global analysis. We estimated worldwide trends in population mean serum total cholesterol. We estimated trends and their uncertainties in mean serum total cholesterol for adults 25 years and older in 199 countries and territories. We obtained data from published and unpublished health examination surveys and epidemiological studies (321 country-years and 3·0 million participants). For each sex, we used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate mean total cholesterol by age, country, and year, accounting for whether a study was nationally representative. In 2008, age-standardised mean total cholesterol worldwide was 4·64 mmol/L (95% uncertainty interval 4·51-4·76) for men and 4·76 mmol/L (4·62-4·91) for women. Globally, mean total cholesterol changed little between 1980 and 2008, falling by less than 0·1 mmol/L per decade in men and women. Total cholesterol fell in the high-income region consisting of Australasia, North America, and western Europe, and in central and eastern Europe; the regional declines were about 0·2 mmol/L per decade for both sexes, with posterior probabilities of these being true declines 0·99 or greater. Mean total cholesterol increased in east and southeast Asia and Pacific by 0·08 mmol/L per decade (-0·06 to 0·22, posterior probability=0·86) in men and 0·09 mmol/L per decade (-0·07 to 0·26, posterior probability=0·86) in women. Despite converging trends, serum total cholesterol in 2008 was highest in the high-income region consisting of Australasia, North America, and western Europe; the regional mean was 5·24 mmol/L (5·08-5·39) for men and 5·23 mmol/L (5·03-5·43) for women. It was lowest in sub-Saharan Africa at 4·08 mmol/L (3·82-4·34) for men and 4·27 mmol/L (3·99-4·56) for women. Nutritional policies and pharmacological interventions should be used to accelerate improvements in total cholesterol in regions with decline and to curb or prevent the rise in Asian populations and elsewhere. Population-based surveillance of cholesterol needs to be improved in low-income and middle-income countries. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and WHO. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Deriving the operational procedure for the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI).

Ingvar Holmér, Birger Tinz, Dusan Fiala … (2012)

The Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) aimed for a one-dimensional quantity adequately reflecting the human physiological reaction to the multi-dimensionally defined actual outdoor thermal environment. The human reaction was simulated by the UTCI-Fiala multi-node model of human thermoregulation, which was integrated with an adaptive clothing model. Following the concept of an equivalent temperature, UTCI for a given combination of wind speed, radiation, humidity and air temperature was defined as the air temperature of the reference environment, which according to the model produces an equivalent dynamic physiological response. Operationalising this concept involved (1) the definition of a reference environment with 50% relative humidity (but vapour pressure capped at 20 hPa), with calm air and radiant temperature equalling air temperature and (2) the development of a one-dimensional representation of the multivariate model output at different exposure times. The latter was achieved by principal component analyses showing that the linear combination of 7 parameters of thermophysiological strain (core, mean and facial skin temperatures, sweat production, skin wettedness, skin blood flow, shivering) after 30 and 120 min exposure time accounted for two-thirds of the total variation in the multi-dimensional dynamic physiological response. The operational procedure was completed by a scale categorising UTCI equivalent temperature values in terms of thermal stress, and by providing simplified routines for fast but sufficiently accurate calculation, which included look-up tables of pre-calculated UTCI values for a grid of all relevant combinations of climate parameters and polynomial regression equations predicting UTCI over the same grid. The analyses of the sensitivity of UTCI to humidity, radiation and wind speed showed plausible reactions in the heat as well as in the cold, and indicate that UTCI may in this regard be universally useable in the major areas of research and application in human biometeorology.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Int J Environ Res Public Health

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Int J Environ Res Public Health

Journal ID (publisher-id): ijerph

Title: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Publisher: MDPI

ISSN (Print): 1661-7827

ISSN (Electronic): 1660-4601

Publication date (Electronic): 21 November 2019

Publication date (Print): December 2019

Volume: 16

Issue: 23

Electronic Location Identifier: 4636

Affiliations

[1 ]School of Medicine, Family Medicine Unit, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-082 Olsztyn, Poland; rafal.skutecki@ 123456uwm.edu.pl

[2 ]Department of Water Resources, Climatology and Environmental Management, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-718 Olsztyn, Poland; iwona.cymes@ 123456uwm.edu.pl (I.C.); ewad@ 123456uwm.edu.pl (E.D.); kaga@ 123456uwm.edu.pl (K.G.-L.)

[3 ]Department of Biopharmacy, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, 85-089 Bydgoszcz, Poland; kizbiofarmacji@ 123456cm.umk.pl

[4 ]Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-082 Olsztyn, Poland; m.drozdowski@ 123456szpital.olsztyn.pl

Author notes

[* ]Correspondence: jerzy.romaszko@ 123456uwm.edu.pl ; Tel.: +48 602 879 061

Author information

Rafał Skutecki https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8719-6899

Ewa Dragańska https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8099-6359

Katarzyna Glińska-Lewczuk https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7845-6353

Jerzy Romaszko https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7929-6822

Article

Publisher ID: ijerph-16-04636

DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16234636

PMC ID: 6926572

PubMed ID: 31766531

SO-VID: 490409e3-1d70-487b-b92c-5369e279a07c

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Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Are the Levels of Lipid Parameters Associated with Biometeorological Conditions?

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Most cited references 38

Comparison of UTCI to selected thermal indices

National, regional, and global trends in serum total cholesterol since 1980: systematic analysis of health examination surveys and epidemiological studies with 321 country-years and 3·0 million participants.

Deriving the operational procedure for the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI).

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