People constantly talk about the weather--especially those for whom weather changes trigger painful headaches. Knowledge is power, and if individuals know they are particularly weather-sensitive, they can track impending weather changes and take appropriate actions, such as filling headache prescriptions or taking medications early on at the first glimmer of headache--or at least before it reaches its painful peak.
Temperature
In a study of more than 7,000 patients seen in the hospital emergency room for headaches between May 2000 and December 2007, Boston physician Kenneth J. Mukamal and colleagues analyzed weather factors that correlated with the incidence of headaches. Most---75 percent--were women. The researchers found higher temperature correlated with an increased number of headaches. There was about a 7.5 percent increase in headaches for every 5 degree centigrade increase in temperature. This is the equivalent of a 7.5 percent increase in headaches for every 9 degrees Fahrenheit.
Wind
Very windy conditions may increase the risk for migraine headaches in some individuals. Neurologist L.J. Cooke and colleagues in Canada studied the incidence of migraines based on headache diaries from 75 patients, comparing the timing of the headaches to the appearance of chinook winds--prominent winds in the plains of Canada near mountain ranges. The researchers analyzed migraines that occurred on prechinook days, as well as days with chinook winds and non-chinook days.
They found some subjects were sensitive on high-wind days, developing migraines, while others were only sensitive on pre-chinook days. A few patients were sensitive to both high-wind days and also pre-chinook days. The researchers also found that increasing age correlated with weather sensitivity in the case of high-chinook wind only.
Air Pollution
Higher levels of air pollution can increase the number of headaches experienced by the local population. Canadian researchers Mieczslaw Szyszkowicz of Health Canada and colleagues analyzed the number of visits to hospitals in emergency rooms in five cities in Canada, publishing results in 2009. The pollution data and hospital visits data were from 2002. They found for women who visited the emergency department for headaches, rates were up by about 4 percent during April to September when sulphur dioxide levels were elevated, and also were up by 4.6 percent in the cold season--October to March--after 2 days of exposure to particulate matter.
Among men, headache visits to emergency rooms were primarily up during the warm season and were 13.5 percent higher for same-day nitrogen dioxide exposure.
Barometric Pressure
In their study on headaches and weather, Mukamal and colleagues found that lower barometric pressure increased the risk for headache and patients were likely to go to the hospital emergency room within 48 to 72 hours after the barometric pressure dropped.
References
- "Neurology"; Weather and Air Pollution as Triggers of Severe Headaches; Kenneth J. Mukamal, M.D., et al.; March 2009.
- "International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health"; Emergency Department Visits for Migraine and Headache: A Multi-City Study; Mieczslaw Szyszkowicz et al.; July-September, 2009
- "Neurology"; Chinook Winds and Migraine Headache; L.J. Cooke, M.D., M.S. Rose, Ph. D. and W.J. Becker, M.D.; January 25, 2000.
