Folks that suffer from achy joints, irritated sinuses, or frequent headaches have long said that the weather plays a vital role. Studies have proven in recent years that weather does have an effect on achy joints and sinuses, but it was still debatable on whether the weather had any real role in headaches, until now.
A study conducted at Boston's Children's Hospital determined that weather did indeed play a factor for about 50 percent of migraine sufferers. However, when asked about their headache, more than 60 percent of the patients said that they though weather was what caused their headache. In other words, more people believed that weather was the main factor, than was actually the case.
A separate study, published in the medical journal Neurology, tested 7,054 patients from May 2000 to December 2007 that received a diagnosis of headache. They compiled data from meteorological and pollutant monitors to analyze air temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, fine particulate matter, black carbon, and sulphur dioxides during the three days prior to the hospital visits and three days after. It showed that warmer weather along with changes in atmospheric pressure may trigger headaches, especially migraines. It also determined that each temperature increase of 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) appeared to increase the risk of severe headaches by nearly 8 percent compared to days when the weather was much cooler.
Higher risk was also observed for cases between October and March or between April and September. Also, when barometric pressure lowered in the 48 to 72 hours before hospitalization, there was a higher risk of non-migraine cases.
While the study noticed these correlations, they also noticed that not all of the factors had the same level of association. For example, of all the environmental factors tested, higher air temperature in the 24 hours before a hospital visit was most closely associated with headache symptoms. Whereas, lower barometric pressure, while it did play also appear to be a trigger, the association was nowhere near as strong. Also, air pollutants didn't appear to play a role in development, or trigger to the start of migraines and headaches, researchers said that bigger studies were needed since the pollutants may play a role in the intensity of such headaches and migraines.
So what can you do if you think this might be the cause of your headaches?
- Keep a journal and write down every time you get a headache. Then see if there's any correlation between those headaches and specific weather patterns.
- If stormy days or hot weather seem to be triggering your headache, your doctor might recommend some preventative headache medicines. For example, taking headache medicine on the days leading up to a patch of warm weather, storms, or whatever might be your trigger.
- You can also make lifestyle changes such as working indoors, spending your time in climate controlled areas, or moving to an area where the trigger is not an issue.
Note: I am not a medical expert. If you experience any of these symptoms please speak with your doctor first before trying any of these treatment options.
Sources: Quality Health, Neurology Journal, NOAA, PubMed,
No comments:
Post a Comment