May 19, 2009 11:00 pm US/Eastern
Health: Stopping Your Pain Before It Starts
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
Migraine headaches got so bad for 39-year-old Kathy Kennedy-Steigerwald, she had to quit her job.
"Sometimes they feel like someone is actually pounding you in your head with a bowling ball," said Kathy.
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.
"I can feel it in my thumb. It just aches," said Carolyn Kane, from Bristol, Pennsylvania.
Inflammation associated with asthma can also be weather-related.
"I can feel it if there's kind of a snow storm coming or anything like unstable air," said Phyllis Atkinson, from Eagleville, Pennsylvania.
Now there's a new e-mail alert system called MediClim that tells you when certain weather conditions are 24 hours away and likely to trigger suffering.
Kathy is among the first in our area to get the early warnings.
"It's been very useful," said Kathy.
"It's not temperature alone, or pressure alone, or humidity," said Dr. John Bart, the Co-Founder of MediClim.
He says his system analyzes 14 different weather conditions, and the different combinations can affect various ailments 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," said Dr. Bart.
He says there's a meteorological component that computes what the conditions will be a day before they arrive, and that 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.
"Once the migraine gets started, sometimes it's 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," said Kathy.
The MediClim alerts are free. They're based on zip code, and 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. A doctor has to prescribe medications.
But he says there are other things people can do. For example, with migraines, if you know a weather trigger is coming, some people should stay away from chocolate and alcohol, which also affects headaches.
RELATED LINK:
www.mediclim.com
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