HOW WEATHER AFFECTS OUR HEALTH
HOT & DRY TEMPERATURE
WHEN TO GET HELP
- If you’ve overdone it in really hot weather, watch for signs like nausea, confusion, fast
breathing or heart rate & headache - If you notice any of them, you need medical help right away
HOT WEATHER CAN MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO SLEEP
- Hot, sticky days can make it hard to sleep because you’re sweating
- It’s not easy to keep enough water in your body
- You may feel like you have no choice but to stay inside your home
- If the air in your home is like a sauna, you may become cranky & aggressive
DON'T EXERCISE OUTDOORS WHEN IT'S HOT OUTSIDE
- A lot depends on the humidity
- If you haven't adapted to 70 degrees with high humidity, it can be dangerous to exercise especially outside
- Your sweat can't evaporate
- Heat isn't something you can instinctively gauge
- People often don't realize how hot & humid it is until they are already in trouble
ALLERGIES
- Pollen moves around when it’s warm, dry & windy
- If you have allergies, this can make your watery eyes & sneezing worse
- Your allergies may bother you more on hot days
WHAT YOU SHOULDN'T DO IN HOT WEATHER
- Don't leave chocolate, dairy products, fresh flowers or fish in the car
- Don't lie in the sun & fall asleep because you run the risk of serious burns
- Don't leave children or pets in your car for even for a minute & even with the window
cracked open - Don't walk your dog on pavement after the sun has been heating it up because the feet
pads will burn - Don't travel with your dog in the back of your metal flatbed truck
- Don't turn off the air conditioner in the house while you are at work if you have pets in
the house - Don't walk outside in bare feet
- Don't use your oven & create more heat in your house instead use the bbq or microwave
- Don't do strenuous work outside in the heat alone or in your house if it's not air conditioned
- Don't leave compact discs on the seat or on the dash board of the car
- Don't constantly turn the air conditioner on & off, try to keep your house at a somewhat
constant temperature - Don't touch metal, dark plastic, car door handles, ignition switches, steering wheels, keys or stick shifts without a towel
- Don't play sports outside without drinking plenty of water constantly
- Do check your car's battery often & make sure that water levels are adequate
- If you have to park your car outside, try to find covered parking
♦♦♦♦♦
LOW TEMPERATURE
HYPOTHERMIA
- If someone has a really low body temperature
1. Direct heat can hurt your skin or cause your heart to beat irregularly
2. So don’t put on an electric blanket or heating pad - Instead
1. Take off any wet clothes & cover them with blankets
2. Drink something warm
3. Skin-to-skin contact is good also
DON'T EXERCISE OUTSIDE
IF IT'S BELOW 10 FAHRENHEIT
- Even if you don’t have asthma, you might feel like you do if you try to work up a sweat in
really cold weather - Frigid, dry air can make your airways smaller & cause something called exercise-induced asthma
- You might cough, wheeze, feel a tightness in your chest, or find it hard to breathe
- These symptoms should go away when you take a break if they were caused by the cold
- If they don’t, call 911.
♦♦♦♦♦
RAINY & COLD WEATHER
ALLERGIES
- There is a bright side to cloudy, rainy days
- They can give you a break from your allergies
- Your allergies may bother you more on hot days
ARTHRITIS
- If you have arthritis, the air pressure (barometric pressure), pushes against your body from
the outside - When bad weather is on the way, the pressure drops & the tissues in your body can swell
- This can cause you joint pain
LOSE WEIGHT
- When it’s cold, we burn more calories to make heat
- So if you’re trying to lose weight, that over-air conditioned office, store, or waiting room may
- not be such a bad thing
MIGRAINES
- Migraines can happen because of
1. Extreme heat or cold
2. High humidity
3. Stormy weather - These things not only bring on migraines, but they also can make the 1 you have worse
- Other weather-related triggers include bright sunlight, dry air & drops in barometric pressure
WINTER
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- SAD is a real affliction & it can make living in colder climates a challenge for many people
- It’s thought that those who suffer from SAD may be particularly affected by the lack of light during the darker winter months
- Studies have found that when SAD sufferers are exposed to light, particularly during the morning hours, they tend to feel better
- SAD is a relatively uncommon condition, but even those who don’t suffer from it may
experience drops in mood levels & well-being during the winter months or in colder climates - We also might be overestimating how much the cold weather affects our mood
- Some research has found that incidences of the 'wintertime blues' are widely exaggerated
& that most people are not affected by seasonal mood changes
♦♦♦♦♦
♦♦♦♦♦
Copyright © 2012 - 2017 KosherWoman.com
All rights reserved
