Weather and Health
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Rheumatism and the weather
Research and surveys overwhelmingly support ‘folklore’ and anecdotal evidence of weather sensitivity amongst people with rheumatism. Some researchers go so far as building climate chambers where they can recreate certain weather conditions. Depending in which study and survey you want to believe, the proportion of people whose rheumatism was affected by weather ranges between 70% and 90%. One thing is clear, however: weather doesn’t cause rheumatism and doesn’t damage joints – but it does affect the severity of rheumatic pain.
Weather-
Depending on their type of rheumatic disorder, arthritis symptoms, osteoarthritis symptoms, fibromyalgia symptoms, some people can predict well in advance the coming of a weather front, others ‘feel’ a nearby thunderstorm and some hear their joints tell them that it will rain. As with headache and migraine sufferers, the weather change takes the blame. But once the weather stabilizes the symptoms will, too.
Several theories exist on the mechanisms of weather sensitivity and rheumatism. One explains that the increased pain is due to the irritation of nerve ends from frequent and rapid changes in weather elements. Also, bones and muscles have different densities, and the unequal expansion and contraction during temperature and humidity variations may increase the pain in inflamed joints or injured muscles.
Another plausible cause is the rapid change in barometric pressure before and during the passage of a weather front. Membranes and fluid in joints expand when the outside barometric pressure drops. The expansion puts pressure on the inflamed tissue, causing increased pain. Some people with rheumatism also report increased pain during air travel in cabins with reduced air pressure.
If cold and damp are the main culprits, why doesn’t everyone with rheumatism move to warmer and drier climates? Some do, but recent evidence shows that pain due to changes in temperature and humidity is relative. Once your body acclimatizes to the warm and dry conditions, a drop of temperature and rise in humidity to levels that you found comfortable before the move causes almost the same negative symptoms. The perceived gain is so small that a rheumatologist rarely recommend a change in location. Mind you, a ‘friendlier’ climate can have some emotional benefits – and a good mood makes pain more bearable.