Likewise, many migraine sufferers believe their headaches result from weather changes. Scientists have been studying this connection since the early 70s, but results have been inconsistent. Those who work with headache patients, however, attest to the correlation, regardless of scientific proof.You can read the full article. I have friends who make fun of me when I blame my headaches on a change in the weather, but I know this is real. When a new weather pattern moves in or out, I feel it in my neck and back. And too often it leads to a headache. During these times food that I can sometimes tolerate will trigger a migraine.
Dr. George Urban, associate director of the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago, says his patients can predict the weather based on their headaches. "The 'weather factor' is a very common trigger for many migraine sufferers," he says. "Usually, it is during or before [a decline] in barometric pressure. There is no special group of patients who are more susceptible to those changes."
But different weather changes affect different people in different ways. A study published in 2004 in Headache used extensive weather data the National Weather Service had gathered and matched it up with information gathered from clinically diagnosed migraine sufferers to test the correlation.
The study, which encompassed two years of material, looked into several factors, including minimum, maximum, and average daily temperatures, dew point and average daily air pressure.
Scientists found that while psychologically, many migraine sufferers believe weather helps determine when they get headaches, fewer actually are affected when weather data was matched up to the patients' own logs of headache occurrences.
Additionally, while the study found that temperature and humidity were the most prominent factors in migraine headaches, some sufferers appeared sensitive to high temperatures and high humidity while others were sensitive to the exact opposite.
But as Urban asserted, differences in sex and age didn't factor into the frequency of migraine headaches.
In the end, however, patients couldn't accurately predict their own weather sensitivity, despite knowing they were sensitive.
Experts advise that the best way to handle this inconsistency is for individual patients to be aware of their own sensitivities and to work with their doctors to figure out the best way to handle the onset of migraine headaches brought on by all relevant weather factors.
Your Turn: What is your experience with weather and headaches? What have you learned? Can you feel a weather change in your body? Please post a comment.
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