I just reviewed a very interesting article regarding scientific reasoning with respect to weather and various chronic pain conditions. Many who suffer from afflictions such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and migraines seem to feel that the weather honestly affects how they feel on any given day. But in the world of science, the jury is still out.
A peer-review of many studies on this topic revealed conflicting information. Some studies demonstrated that certain weather changes affected pain levels for some pain conditions, while others seem to find no evidence for this. The authors of the article conclude the following possibilities:
One study method, known as the crossover method, seems to mitigate the time invariant factors in this type of study...leading to confounding results.
Studies regarding pain level versus changes in barometric pressure are sometimes poorly designed, or don't really have enough subjects in the study to really come to a decisive conclusion about this.
While the scientific data are inconclusive, the debate is still far from over. Medical climatologists feel that there is a link between the weather and increased or decreased pain levels, while cognitive psychologists seem to disagree.
Lastly, this topic may be far more complex than we may realize at this point in time. In order to reach a conclusion, we need to make an association between the right factors, and at this point in time, we simply are not there yet!
Sources: Practical Pain Management: Wikimedia; Wikipedia
A peer-review of many studies on this topic revealed conflicting information. Some studies demonstrated that certain weather changes affected pain levels for some pain conditions, while others seem to find no evidence for this. The authors of the article conclude the following possibilities:
One study method, known as the crossover method, seems to mitigate the time invariant factors in this type of study...leading to confounding results.
Studies regarding pain level versus changes in barometric pressure are sometimes poorly designed, or don't really have enough subjects in the study to really come to a decisive conclusion about this.
While the scientific data are inconclusive, the debate is still far from over. Medical climatologists feel that there is a link between the weather and increased or decreased pain levels, while cognitive psychologists seem to disagree.
Lastly, this topic may be far more complex than we may realize at this point in time. In order to reach a conclusion, we need to make an association between the right factors, and at this point in time, we simply are not there yet!
Sources: Practical Pain Management: Wikimedia; Wikipedia
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