Effects of light, electromagnetic fields and water on biological rhythms

" Several other non-visual opsins, including encephalopsin (OPN3), are widely distributed throughout the central nervous system and respond to narrow bands of blue light (OPN3: 463 nm) [8]. Indeed, there are many photoactive molecules within the brain, including naturally fluorescent amino acids such as tryptophan, neurotransmitters like serotonin, as well as highly conserved flavins and porphyrins [9], [10]. Together, these molecules may serve as activators and amplifiers of direct neural transduction of light toward the maintenance of circadian rhythmicity." {Credits 1}

" While the global electrical circuit is influenced by weather, both the geomagnetic field and Schumann resonances show a constant diurnal variation in intensity that follows sunlight intensity (i.e., peaking at noon and reaching lowest levels at night), in a manner highly similar to the circadian rhythmicity of body functions [35], [36] (Fig. 2). This observation led many researchers to suggest that natural electromagnetic fields may also be involved in entrainment of the circadian rhythm [34], [35], [36]." {Credits 1}

" The incidence and mortality of many chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, depression and Covid-19 have been shown to increase following solar storms, which affect the earth’s electromagnetic fields [28], [42]. Cherry proposed that sun-induced variations in Schumann resonances may be responsible for the detrimental effects of solar and geomagnetic storms on human health [35]. More recently, Krylov and colleagues showed that simulated geomagnetic storms affect circadian rhythms in model organisms (i.e., cockroaches and snails) [43]. Moreover, the same group showed that simulations in which the natural geomagnetic field was shielded and replaced by an artificial magnetic field could be used to entrain the circadian rhythm of zebrafish to the unusual long period of 36 hours [44]. … Another study showed that an extremely low frequency magnetic field (0.1 mT, 50 Hz) induced the cyclic expression of circadian rhythm genes (i.e., BMAL1, PER2, PER3, CRY1, CRY2) in human cultured fibroblasts [45]." {Credits 1}

" The lunar phase of the moon influences not only plants and animals but also humans, as seen from the increase of epileptic seizures, violent behaviors and spontaneous abortions observed during full and/or new moon (see the excellent review in [48])." {Credits 1}

Here it can be point out a series of studies that indicate how the geomagnetic field is altered during the full moon as well as the new moon, but in different ways, for example “Lunar biological effects and the magnetosphere”.

In fact, when it is a full moon there is an “excessive stillness” of the geomagnetic field (lower kp index), as mentioned here “Lunar Phase Effects of Geomagnetic Activity and Ambulance Calls”:

" The Earth is protected from solar wind by the magnetosphere, which has a distinctive elongated shape. On the day side, its size of 10-15 Earth’s radii (RE) is responsible for solar wind pressure. On the night side, the length of the magnetosphere is over 200 RE [23]. The Moon’s orbit with a radius of about 60 RE intersects the magnetosphere. On the Sun’s side, the Moon partly overlaps, partly reflects corpuscular radiation and interacts with the magnetic field frozen into its plasma. The magnetosphere responds to the movement of the Moon In this interval of the cycle by restructurings dominated by high Кр index values. The Moon occupies a position on the side opposite to the Sun in the full moon phase; being inside the magnetosphere, the Moon is shielded by it. At this time, geomagnetic activity is mainly low."

... it is not bad, I personally think that it is the opposite, it connects us with the undistorted field of the earth, there is a greater feeling of union between all beings, only some do not handle it well.

But let's continue with the text:

" It has been proposed that, under some conditions, resonance occurs between Schumann resonances and brain waves [35], as well as between the geomagnetic field and the heart’s magnetic field [49]. Such resonance may provide information about the time of the day which in turn entrains circadian rhythmicity in biological functions." {Credits 1}

" Furthermore, many studies have shown that living organisms react to small variations in magnetic field intensity within the context of the ion cyclotron resonance (ICR) mechanism [28], [36], [54]. The ICR mechanism is based on the observation that a combination of static magnetic field and time-varying or oscillating magnetic or electric field (oriented parallel or perpendicular, respectively, to the static magnetic field) can produce biological effects on a wide range of cells and living organisms, in spite of their extremely low intensity (as low as 40 nT) [54]. According to Liboff, the static magnetic field represents the Earth’s geomagnetic field which enters in resonance with endogenous, oscillating electric or magnetic fields produced by ions and charged molecules in the human body [54]." {Credits 1}

" The biological relevance of the ICR mechanism is shown by the observation that magnetic fields matching ICR frequencies for biologically-relevant ions can influence biological processes in a wide range of living organisms, including in diatom movement, plant growth, bone healing, stem cell differentiation, and animal behaviors, among others [28], [54]. When the ratio of the frequency of the time-varying or oscillating magnetic or electric field divided by the intensity of the static magnetic field equals the charge-to-mass ratio of a biologically relevant cation, such as calcium, potassium, magnesium or positively-charged amino acids, the magnetic field treatment produces the same biological effects than if the living organism was treated with the said cation." {Credits 1}

" Pro-inflammatory cytokines spontaneously increase in humans during the winter in northern and southern hemispheres [60], indicating that winter may induce inflammation and symptoms in a periodic manner, independently of pathogens. Melatonin increases in the winter when nights are longer, whereas it decreases in the summer when nights are shorter, a process that affects reproduction patterns in animals [61]. Moreover, darkness can reduce cortisol level and increase inflammation [62]. … but only 30% of the variance in the physiological and pathological processes examined could be explained by weather [63]. In addition to many other contributing factors such as aging and existing chronic diseases, it appears likely that variations in infrared light and seasonal weakening of the Earth’s electromagnetic fields may also contribute to disease seasonality [34]." {Credits 1}

" Alexander Chizhevsky was among the first researchers to find evidence that sunspot maxima are associated with variation in crop yield and upticks of epidemic diseases and cardiovascular mortality [64]. More recent observations have confirmed that human epidemics and pandemics usually occurred during periods of sunspot minima or maxima [65]. Accordingly, the Covid-19 pandemic started at the end of 2019 during a period of sunspot minimum [65] involving a large north/south asymmetry on the sun [66], and the pandemic lasted 3 years, consistent potential beneficial effects of a return towards middle sunspot activity [66]. A similar mechanism based on melatonin variation with the solar cycle may explain variation in disease severity with the sunspot cycle." {Credits 1}

" Through years of meticulous experiments, Giorgio Piccardi noticed that the kinetics of chemical reactions in vitro followed seasonal solar activity and the sunspot cycle [70]. Chemical reactions involving the precipitation of oxychloride of bismuth and blood coagulation deviated from their normal rate based on sunspot number and correlated with daily measurements of atmospheric electric potentials [70]. Moreover, a grounded shield of copper acting as a Faraday cage attenuated these environmental effects and slowed down the chemical reactions compared to unshielded conditions. Capel-Boute later confirmed these observations and noted that chemical reactions also showed a diurnal variation similar to the circadian rhythm and daily solar activity [71]. Piccardi attributed these effects to ELF electromagnetic fields from the sun and their possible effects on water. If the kinetics of chemical reactions on Earth are robustly affected by solar activity, and human health is dependent on the regularities of electrochemical reactions in cells and tissues throughout the body, it is important to consider the role of space weather in public health." {Credits 1}

And then it talks about water and how it appears in two states, one disordered and the other ordered, of course more within living organisms, how it interacts with electromagnetic fields and with light, and how, through the different experiments that demonstrate this, it can be a mediator of the biological effects of natural and artificial electromagnetic fields.

For example:

" Given that ICR-like reactions require water [54], it appears that the magnetic field at the ICR frequencies may induce cellular effects by reproducing the electromagnetically-based informational signal of ions, which then affects water and cellular activity. This is consistent with the proposition that electromagnetic signals that are specific for particular ions and molecules may mimic the effects of these substances [83]. Using a weak oscillating magnetic field corresponding to the ICR frequency for H3O+, it was possible to increase the formation of EZ water and reduce pH [84]. Together, these observations indicate that ELF electromagnetic fields such as Schumann resonances and the static geomagnetic field may affect water and be involved not only in biological rhythms but also in cellular reactions." {Credits 1}

" Several factors suggest that water (and living organisms which are systems far away from thermodynamic equilibrium) may be particularly sensitive to weak external electromagnetic fields such as Schumann resonances and the geomagnetic field. It is now evident that water continually absorbs energy from the environment to form CDs and EZ water [76]. Both an excess and deficiency of this external energy may be detrimental to human health due to altered kinetics of biochemical reactions occurring in the human body. Intermediate levels of sunspots and seasonal solar energy may provide optimal levels for physiological functions, whereas maxima and minima produce detrimental effects on health. Accordingly, both maximum and minimum solar activity have been shown to produce negative effects on human health [34]." {Credits 1}

In any case:

" Healthy individuals react to stress from solar and geomagnetic disturbances by inducing compensatory physiological reactions in order to maintain homeostasis [88]. The health condition of the host will therefore determine whether effects are observed, with the elderly and diseased individuals and those with a high burden of stress and instability being more likely to show symptoms as their physiological functions already show some disorders." {Credits 1}

As a curiosity:

" Oscillations of the geomagnetic field has been detected around the cages of mice during a touch healing intervention to treat tumor growth [93]. These oscillations of 1–8 milli-Gauss showed changes in frequencies from 20–30 Hz, 7–8 Hz, and finally to less than 1 Hz, before reversing and increasing again. A coupling between the healer’s and subjects’ electroencephalograms corresponding to the Schumann resonances and its harmonics was also described during these healing sessions [94]. The touch healing method developed by William Bengston was repeatedly showed not only to reduce tumor size in the mice, but also cure cancer for the rest of their lifespan [95]." {Credits 1}

{Credits 1} 🎪 Martel, J., Rouleau, N., Murugan, N. J., Chin, W. C., Ojcius, D. M., & Young, J. D. (2024). Effects of light, electromagnetic fields and water on biological rhythms. Biomedical Journal, 100824. © 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.