Jun 30, 2009 4:55 pm US/Eastern
Weather Alerts Warn Arthritis, Migraine Patients
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Migraines are sometimes triggered by changes in the weather.
WBZ
There's a unique new way to be able to avoid suffering from medical conditions like arthritis and migraines.
A new free weather alert can help stop your pain before it starts.
Kathy Kennedy Stigerwald, 39, had to quit her job.
"Sometimes they feel like someone is actually pounding you in your head with a bowling ball," she said.
A combination of certain weather conditions is a known trigger for migraines. It's not clear why, and weather can affect other conditions like arthritis.
Carolyn Kane says, "I can feel it in my thumb, it just aches."
Inflammation associated with asthma can also be weather related.
Phyllis Atkinson explains, "I can feel it if there's kind of a snow storm coming or anything like unstable air."
Now there's a new e-mail alert system calledÂ
MediClim that tells you when certain weather conditions are 24 hours away and likely to trigger suffering.
Kathy was among the first to get the early warnings. She says, "It's been very useful."
The creator of MediClim, Dr. John Bart, says his system analyzes 14 different weather conditions. He says different combinations can affect various aliments from migraines to asthma and arthritis.
"The average person on the street has no way of putting together the changes in temperature and pressure and humidity the direction of the wind," Dr. Bart said.
Bart says there's a meteorological component that computes where the conditions will be a day before they arrive, and there are European studies to prove the formula works.
Early warnings allow people like Kathy to take medication to prevent an attack or at least reduce the symptoms.
Kathy says, "Once the migraine gets started sometimes it harder to treat and harder to make it go away. If you can prevent one from happening in the first place it's much better."
The Mediclim alerts are free, based on zip code. You don't have to give any personal or medical information to sign up. Dr. Bart says the alerts are for weather conditions only, not medical advice.
Check with your doctor before changing the way you take your medications or to get a prescription.
Sign up for medical weather alerts at
www.mediclim.com
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