Meteoropathy

Weather pains, weather-related pain, or meteoropathy is a phenomenon that occurs when people with conditions such as arthritis or limb injuries claim to feel pain, particularly with changes in barometric pressure, humidity or other weather phenomena. Scientific evidence, however, does not support a connection between weather and pain, and concludes that it is largely or entirely due to perceptual errors such as confirmation bias.

Historic beliefs

A hypothetical relationship between changes in weather and pain has been documented since the classical Roman age, with Hippocrates in about 400 B.C. perhaps being the first to claim a connection. Anecdotal evidence provided by people such as Monica Seles, and widely used expressions such as "aches and pain, coming rains", "feeling under the weather", and "ill health due to evil winds", reinforce the popular opinion that this effect is real, despite the lack of scientific evidence supporting this contention.

Scientific investigation

The first publication to document a change in pain perception associated with the weather was the ''American Journal of the Medical Sciences'' in 1887. This involved a single case report describing a person with phantom limb pain, and it concluded that "approaching storms, dropping barometric pressure and rain were associated with increased pain complaint."

Most investigations examining the relationship between weather and pain have studied people diagnosed with arthritis. After reviewing many case reports, Rentshler reported in the ''Journal of the American Medical Association'' in 1929 that there was strong evidence that "warm weather is beneficial and barometric pressure changes are detrimental to patients with arthritis."

Countering the 1929 barometric pressure claim, in a 2016 article entitled "Do Your Aches, Pains Predict Rain?" professor of atmospheric sciences Dennis Driscoll is reported as stating: "People need to realize that the pressure changes associated with storms are rather small." In fact, Driscoll observes that the changes associated with a storm are about equivalent to what a person experiences in going up an elevator in a tall building. So far, there have not been many reports of people with arthritis hobbled by elevator rides in the medical literature.

A study published in the ''British Medical Journal'' in 2017 examined reports of joint or back pain from millions of doctor visits between 2008 and 2012 as recorded by Medicare, the U.S. health system for the elderly. It compared these to rain data as recorded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but found no correlation at all. The study concluded that:

Non-English usage

The word ''meteoropathy'' is uncommon in English, but the concept and similar words are widespread in certain other languages. In Polish a sufferer is a ''meteopata'' or ''meteoropata'', in Italian a ''meteoropatico'', in Croatian a ''meteoropat'', Macedonian a метеопат (''meteopat'')', and Japanese a for example. The German term ''Wetterempfindlichkeit'' ('weather sensitivity') refers to symptoms of meteoropathy, whereas ''Wetterfühligkeit'' ('weather percipience') refers to weather-related mood swings.

See also

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* Thunderstorm asthma

References

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Weather and health