The weather: friend and tyrant

Nutrition Health Review,  Summer, 2004  by William Renaurd

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Along with food, money, and sex, one more subject dominates the waking moments of most people: "What will the weather be like?" The answers given by television's weather forecaster-performers merely amount to advice about carrying umbrellas, bundling for an oncoming storm, and getting snow shovels ready.

Important information, such as how weather will influence persons with special health problems, is nonexistent. Cardiac patients ought to be told what a high-pressure front could mean in terms of their own condition, users of pharmaceutical drugs must be warned that medication varies in potency under different temperatures, and arthritis and allergy sufferers need to know what problems changing weather can portend for them.

"I can feel a cold weather front coming days ahead of its arrival," says Jane. "My teeth begin to hurt, and my entire lower jaw aches. I've been x-rayed, prodded by dentists, filled with pain-killing drugs, and examined by half a dozen neurologists. They can find no reason for my pain. I've decided that it's the weather and just try to bear it while waiting for the weather to change."

Jane was lucky, She only had to endure the frustration of futile examinations. Others not only suffer pain but also have more pain inflicted upon them by physicians seeking the elusive culprit with deadening drugs, surgery, or complicated treatments.

"This is the time for me to begin dieting to lose weight," declares John, who has been struggling with overweight and depression through, an unusually cold winter. "I think less about food and more about girls in the spring."

Are John's responses to winter's end merely poetic expectations of a springtime romance, or has the acid-alkaline balance of his body shifted to a higher blood acidity determined by change of weather?

We know that "spring fever" affects various people in different ways. Some become lethargic, bodily functions slow down, mental activities diminish. Suicide rates seem to rise in April. So depression 'is not strictly a dark, dreary winter phenomenon.

Others, like John, experience a surge of energy, bodily functions accelerate, sexual interests rise, and a renewed awareness manifests itself in personal appearance, weight, and clothing.

The arthritis patient does not have to be told that pain and discomfort attend sudden changes of weather. Knowing what to expect, however, can reduce anxiety and unnecessary visits to an already overburdened physician.

Many people who are troubled by arthritis and who use medicine such as cortisone may not be aware of the effect that hot weather has on their drugs. They increase in strength during those periods. Physicians who know this fact would adjust the dosage accordingly.

High blood pressure is another condition that is highly responsive to weather, especially for those who are using hypertensive drugs.

Have you been popping two or three aspirins whenever you feel the need for them? You probably can manage with less in cold weather. Tranquilizers, too, react the same way. Therefore, a user of such drugs, following the same routine winter and summer, will probably react sluggishly during cold weather.

Several drugs react to sunlight and should be moderated for those who spend time outdoors. The antibiotics, antidepressants, and diuretics rise in potency under sunlight.

It is common knowledge that weather has an effect upon mood and emotions, and it may cause bodily pain in the susceptible. The scientific basis upon which these suppositions can be proven to be true is a recent development, however.

The science of investigating and charting effects of atmospheric changes upon populations is called biometerology. In several European countries, recognition has already been accorded its practitioners. In the U.S., the medical community has yet to embrace most of its pronouncements. Weather bureaus continue to function as weather vanes rather than as advisory services.

When biometeorology is fully recognized as a disciplined science here, physicians will tailor their diagnoses and treatment compatibly to the patient's weather sensitivity. Leaders of industry could arrange production and working conditions in relation to recognized principles of modified environment. Statesmen, recognizing human vulnerability, might consider postponing confrontations, conferences, and even hostilities until more favorable atmospheric conditions prevail.

The individual who diligently observes all rules of good health, diet, exercise, mental serenity, but finds perfection elusive should recognize that these rules have a fourth partner--weather.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Vegetus Publications
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