HOFUF – Prof. Konstantin Korokov, of St. Petersburg National Research University, distilled the essence of day two of the King of Organs heart conference in Hofuf Sunday in a short introduction to delegates. Drawing on the experience of the preceding day and Monday's presentations he observed: “We should be open to a new type of science, the science of subtle influences.” The remark perfectly bracketed the day with its agenda of chronobiology, the study of the effect of time on biological events, especially repetitive or cyclic phenomena in individuals. It involves the gathering and collation of vast swathes of data, some empirically produced and some anecdotal. Chairwoman of the morning session Prof. Germaine Cornélissen when asked the point at which anecdotal evidence became scientifically valid said that the process of collating and cross-referencing the information from multiple disciplines should be systematically analyzed to build a new and scientific picture. This precisely defines the thrust of the conference: To deliver a greater, holistic understanding of how the heart and humans are connected to and influenced by not simply terrestrial events but also extra-terrestrial influences and influences yet unconsidered. In a brief and precise presentation, Lutfallah Gari, engineer and historian, indicated the importance of folkloric and historical sources as suggestions for research. He described in detail the value of timing guides to treatment that Ibn Sina, a Persian polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects, placed on star, moon and circadian cycles for the treatment of diseases. Ibn Sina, who lived in the 10th century, is widely seen as a founder of empirical medicine based on experience. Prof. Cornélissen opened the day with a detailed exposition that explained the value of long-term data gathering – giving examples of medical data tracked from patients over 40 years – that when systematically analyzed gave greater understanding of the rhythms of the heart. Blood pressure is not, she contended, necessarily an enemy; long-term data about the variables in blood pressure and how they are intimately related to times of day, month and year have led to more effective delivery of medication to a patient based on timing. Work on the data so gathered for example turned up a surprise. Blood pressure amplitude is known to vary through the day in a rhythmic manner — the circadian rhythm — and is traceable with simple technology. The varying amplitude affects glucose tolerance and decreased rate variability – Circadian Hyper Amplitude Tension (CHAT) was found to be a much greater risk to a patient than hypertension. When both conditions coexisted, the increase in risk was larger than the addition of both risks. CHAT and reduced heart rate variability are two separate synergistic disease risk conditions, detected by a chronobiologic approach, even when they occur within the conventional normal range. Dr. Yashiko Watanabe, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, further linked treatment to circadian (daily) rhythm when he presented data on the treatment of a cancerous tumor. Radiation treatment on the tumor proved 60 percent more effective, regression more rapid and remission up to two years longer when the tumor reached its daily peak temperature. The cross-discipline fertilization extended much further afield than simply within medical sciences. Outer space and seismic events deep underground also made an appearance with varying degrees of success or credibility. The moon has long been seen as an influence on human life, from werewolves to tides. However, it, and the periodic cycles of solar activity from solar flares to magnetic storms are, through the meticulous sifting process of chronobiology and the identification of patterns via statistical constructs, becoming more fully understood. At many levels, there is a forming realization that the environment affects us, and everything in it, in ways we are just beginning to identify. Prof. Elchin Khalilov commenting on the progress of the conference said that trans-disciplinary monitoring of cosmic and geophysical effects on cardiovascular function was a new and essential development. “This is an area of human research that has been overlooked,” he said. “It will limit our ability to treat people and the most sensitive organ, the heart. I hope that this conference will begin to change all that.” Prof. Watanabe expanded the geophysical connection by reviewing a study he conducted during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China. He noted that locomotor activity increased considerably in the 3-6 day period before and after the seismic event. This effect repeated itself in another earthquake in 1995. Constant monitoring of animals' heart and activity patterns might have some use as a predictor and has a deep grounding in history. Fortunately Watanabe had 13 patients on 24-hour/30 minute monitoring when the 2011 earthquake and tsunami struck East Japan. He found significant changes in the systolic blood pressure leading up to the earthquake and peaked a day after, perhaps indicating that in some as yet unknown manner, the patients were unconsciously responding to geophysical changes prior to the event.
