Guest guest Posted September 3, 2008 Report Share Posted September 3, 2008 I have tracked it over the 58 yrs that I've had asthma (living in Fla.). Even summer squalls can cause my asthma to start acting up. On the other hand, within the last year I was under a tornado warning, but I knew I wasn't in any danger because my asthma hadn't squawked at all; sure enough, no tornados came into my area. I had a scientist explain it to me one time (because I asked about it). Of course, didn't understand everything he was talking about, but he said that it has to do with ambient air pressure vs lung air pressure--a balance that keeps everyone's lungs inflated--plus a load of chemistry involving oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. When the barometric pressure falls, it puts a strain on our lungs to fill to capacity. As the capacity drops, asthmatic lungs react by constricting and often react by secreting mucus, which further blocks our airways. It's not related to the breathing difficulties that mountain climbers experience--that's a drop in oxygen levels. It has to do with the pressure that's being exerted on our lungs. Always wanted to do more research into the matter, but didn't. My longtime physician once called me a " human barometer. " A similar effect can be seen with those glass barometers--the liquid in them tends ends to shrink or swell given the barometric pressure. Asthmatics just happen to have extremely sensitive lungs and bronchial airways. Other people have gout that acts up, or past-broken bones that ache when barometric pressure drops. --marty On Wednesday, September 3, 2008, at 03:23 , intense_121 wrote: > Hi to All: > Hope we're all feeling better today. > I have a temperature/humidity monitor in my bedroom because both can > affect my condition, causing apparent constriction, difficulty some- > times breathing. When the ambient temperature inside is over 80 de- > grees, and moreso humidity over 50%, I experience symptoms. > As we know, usually both are factors in lower barometric pressure. I > found the posts regarding this very interesting, something I hadn't > considered nor tracked coincident to symptoms by barometric pressure. > > Regards, > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 3, 2008 Report Share Posted September 3, 2008 I tend not to react to sudden or normal day to day weather changes in an asthmatic sense, however, when the air pressure falls really low and something is impending but not quite here, I find I have troubles. I also get headaches when this happens too. I still know the day to day weather changes are coming b/c my tendonitis in either one or both wrists and a former knee injury are quite good at telling me. Right now I dont think Hanna is going to bother Florida too much b/c I dont have any of my usual symptoms. I also noticed that my asthma didnt start flaring up until the winds kicked up with Gustav. We only got the outermost bands, but the winds were strong. On another note, I can definitely say weather most definitely plays a part in people's asthma b/c having been in the fire department I had a scanner at home that I would monitor. I listened to whatever channels I could (4 county frequencies and 2 city frequencies) and while it took me awhile to make the correlation, when my asthma was kicking up, so was alot of other peoples! And usually it had something to do with some type of weather related issue, mostly in the summer. Once I made the connection, it was rather interesting. Ann Get the MapQuest Toolbar. Directions, Traffic, Gas Prices More! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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