Whether the Weather effects us or not..

I picked this up from our MA site.

What do we think of this? I am currently watching the barometer to try to determine if it is effecting me.
Brent seems to be quite erudite in this. Brent would you comment on this please?

Many migraineurs believe that certain weather changes can trigger a migraine attack but a new study finds no strong evidence that this is true. The findings, reported in the medical journal Cephalalgia, add to a conflicting body of research into the idea that weather factors, including changes in temperature, sunshine and atmospheric pressure, are true migraine triggers.

A study published last year, in the journal Neurology, found a correlation between weather changes and ER visits for migraine and other headaches at one Boston hospital. For every increase in temperature of about nine degrees Fahrenheit, the odds of visits for migraine and non-migraine headaches rose by 7.5%. Similarly, the risk of non-migraine headaches increased during the two to three days following a drop in atmospheric pressure. Low pressure generally means cloudy skies and storms, while high pressure means clear skies. However, a number of other studies, including the current one, have failed to find a clear connection between weather and migraine.

For this latest study, Austrian researchers had 238 migraineurs keep "headache diaries" for three months. Each day, the study participants recorded whether they'd had a headache, and if so, the details of their symptoms. They also rated their exposure to a range of factors potentially related to migraine; that included seven questions on the weather.

The researchers used data from a Vienna meteorological institute to objectively measure the relationship between participants' reported symptoms and daily weather changes during the three-month study. At first glance, study participants appeared to have a somewhat higher risk of migraine attacks on days with lower average wind speed. There was also a connection between day-to-day changes in sunshine duration and migraine risk. Statistically speaking, however, those links could easily have been due to chance.

In addition, the researchers found, there were many discrepancies between participants' perceptions of the weather on a given day and what the meteorological data actually showed. The findings, along with those of some past studies, indicate that weather factors are of "very limited" importance in triggering migraines. People may, for instance, be more likely to recall "bad weather" on days they have a migraine, or less likely to do so on migraine-free days.

Lee Tomkins, Director of Migraine Action comments: "We cannot definitely conclude that weather has no impact on migraine at all as previous studies have shown a correlation between weather changes and migraine incidences. Our members frequently report that drops in atmospheric pressure and extended periods of hot weather make them more prone to having migraine attacks. It's important to try and find out other migraine triggers that may be involved in attacks; triggers are peculiar to the individual and it is never just one trigger on its own that sets off an attack but a culmination of them. By keeping a migraine diary and recognising what your triggers are can really help to manage your condition effectively. If you do notice that weather changes do tend to trigger an attack, look to reduce your other triggers that you can control, such as stress, low blood sugar levels and tiredness; by controlling other trigger factors you may find that weather changes will no longer push you over your migraine threshold and induce an attack."

I think the problem is that there is so much individual variability in migraine triggers. While I have never had a problem with weather a number of other people report they do. If only say 20% of the migraine population has weather as a trigger, then only a small number of the people in the study would have an increase in migraines, while the other 80% would not. This would really wash out the effect in the statistical analysis, so that any changes due to weather would be "not statistically significant".

To do such a study right, they need to confine the study sample to only migrainuers who self report weather as a trigger. Then do the same study to see if the data support that assertion for that subset of the population.

Migrainegirl wrote: To do such a study right, they need to confine the study sample to only migrainuers who self report weather as a trigger. Then do the same study to see if the data support that assertion for that subset of the population.

You are absolutely right MG. That would be a much better way and may help us determine one way or the other.
I always hope not to be affected by the weather. After all, what can you do about that.
I mean it says avoid other triggers. Hell my only other trigger was hormones. Another one I cant get away from.


P

Uhhhmmmm.......

These brilliant researcher must explain how:

1) I get awful migraine at work where the strong wind cannot be felt because our building is isolated and positioned in such a way that the wind cannot be easily felt

2) I get migraine even when the wind is 10 miles away

3) I get migraine 8/10 hours before the strong wind arrives

4) Migraine triggered by weather changes is different from others (for instance, it involves the whole head and gives less nausea)

This is interesting Anto.
I haven't checked the wind so much.
It is very windy here right now. The barometer however is holding steady. I dont understand barometric pressure at all, and might be too old to learn. But I can tell if it goes up or down. It was 1026.8 yesterday and today is 1023.3. Means nothing to me, but Weather Channel says its steady....
Humidity is high at 93%. England is always humid. I dont like it.

None of this means anything to me, and even if it did, what can I do? They say avoid other triggers....I dont have any.....how can I??

So frustrating.

As a case in point: today the temperature raised to 8 C after 2 weeks at 2/3 C.
This sudden raise triggered a migraine to me....

Probably for the general population it's not a trigger.

We just had a massive storm here and I've been sick for 3 stinking days because of it.

I also find with massive lows...very little does to make the thing go away - just gives me a break and the monster comes roaring back later.

Our pressure has dropped from 1026 to 1013, does anyone know if this is significant please?

I can't read all this right now, but in reply to the subject, it so is!!!!

Pen,

Your readings are totally different from here in the states so I can't tell you.

Oh yes, Brent did mention that. I will see if I can convert them.

My situation is totally unrelated to general weather changes. If you have a completely closed of sinus cavity and the air pressure drops the sinus cavity will expand. That is solid physics. It's the same when your ears plug and then "pop" in an airplane as it's climbs. It's very uncomfortable when they don't equalize (pop). Babies have a real tough time flying because of their inner ears being inflamed quite often.

That study is about all the collective weather changes being a trigger. I can't speak for that but I personally wouldn't be surprised that there may be a link for some mig patients.

My concern is for a small number of people that have migs but it's caused by sinus pressure. That means it probably can be surgically corrected. I'm guessing that most mig patients have other triggers.

And for those that have migs triggered by a weather change in general then you know it and don't need a bunch of ignorant goofball doctors studying a very small segment of mig people.

I have also read about winds that come off water that have a negative charge and are healthy. Contrasted to wind that comes off dry areas and have picked up a positive charge. People do get headaches and other pains/complaints when that happens. In some areas they are called "witching winds" or "ill winds".

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You can read a lot more about the electrical charge effects on health. "Negative" charge is a misnomer when it comes to health. Our bodies need to have a negative charge and that is what is relaxing being around water be it a river or the ocean.

No group of doctors can absolutely say that weather is a definitive cause or not a cause of some migraines. Only after studying several thousand mig patients could they even start to make an accurate observation.

I didn't get migs from red wine, cheese or chocolate so using those doc's logic I could say that nobody else should either. I could probably find 100 mig patients that don't get migs from those foods and then say nobody should.

We all know better and none of us can fit in a single pigeon hole. Scientist and doctors like nice neat little packages that explain everything. Variables drive them insane and make them have to work harder. If they had their way the would reduce humans down to a single mathematical formula. A formula if calculated right will produce one single consistent answer no matter who does the calculating.

We humans are not a machine or a formula even though scientists try to make us that.

Admin wrote:Our pressure has dropped from 1026 to 1013, does anyone know if this is significant please?

Brent can you help. Is this a significant drop please?
I cant find how one converts...

P

I am struggling to try to figure this out for myself.
I have watched the barometer, the weather, the humidity.
I seem to be bad all the time regardless. ~Although I do get particularly bad phases.

Is the weather a trigger, for sure?
I would like to know what you all think and how you know please.

I mean when does it trigger, when does the dead come subsequent to the weather front.

I know I cant change the weather, but I get very confused and a bit stressed not knowing why.
At least if I could work this out, I could cope with it.

Please comment.

P

Well I guess I'd look at what was going on and how you felt. I'm sure your hubby could plot out the pain levels (or whatever you use to classify things) and the pressure and see if there are trends that match.

I seem to be affected by big lows...little ones don't bug me but major storm systems throw me for a loop.

It's def a factor for me.

Is it? What part of the UK are you in Witsy?
I am down in Bedfordshire. We get very changeable weather.
But then again that is pretty typical England I guess.
Do you get extremes where you are...You know like heavy snow up north etc.

Er, yeh lol.

I'm in NE Scotland, so we get plenty of the white stuff. And the wet stuff.

I don't even know how to explain when it messes with my head. Usually when it's stormy, and the clouds are so grey that it's dark outside even when it's the middle of the day. I don't know too much about the pressure to be honest.

You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to pay more attention going forward!

Because I don't think this reply will be of any use to you

Ah, you must have had a LOT of winter this year. I have family in Fife and they got no post for weeks.

Ha! It isnt no use, but I think there is room for improvement...

Found this on the subject. (still trying to get Teri on here...)

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Yes, cloudy days make my head hurt.

Thought this might be pertinent to this thread:

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Weather or changes in air pressure? You would have to fly or change elevations fast to rule out barometric changes. The barometer is the mechanism of weather changes.

But having a stretch of sun and blues end quickly to gray skies would change your serotonin levels. Or the reverse of having sun after a stretch of gray skies. Once again a change in serotonin (up or down)

Which would also add to my neurotransmitter fluctuation idea.

It's the pressure changes in air travel that do me in.

Get your sinuses checked, re-checked and then checked again. And by multiple different ENT docs. It only takes one small sinus cavity to be blocked to cause some severe problems.