It’s official (again): Changes in weather aren’t to blame for body aches — no matter how insistently relatives rant that rain or wind or heat wreaks havoc with their back and joints. Such complaints have been going on for centuries, but they weren’t true then and they’re not true now, per scientists at Australia’s George Institute for Global Health. Various studies prove it. Sorry, Grammy and Gramps and everyone else who likes to fault Mother Nature.
George researchers surveyed 1,350 subjects with lower back pain or osteoarthritis
to compare the weather at the time people first noticed pain with
weather conditions — temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind direction
and precipitation — one week and one month before the onset of pain.
The conclusion: “There is absolutely no link between pain and the
weather in these conditions.” Pretty unequivocal.
In a previous study, the Institute reached the same conclusion and was
met with a storm of criticism on social media. Chris Maher, Ph.D., head
of George’s musculoskeletal division, expects more of the same reaction
since people are more likely to note pain when it’s cold and rainy but
ignore discomfort when it’s mild and sunny.
People like to look for patterns in events in their life, Maher told the
Daily News. “That trait can have a benefit, and is how our knowledge
about the world arises,” he said. “Problem is people are fallible and
can get it wrong. In the case of inclement weather triggering aches and
pains, it is time to let go of that belief.”
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