ST. LOUIS – Low-pressure fronts, often referred to as storm systems, create pressure changes. But some people believe pressure changes cause biological effects on humans and their pets, including birthing rates, arthritis, anxiety, temperament, and headaches.
Do birthrates change as a storm approaches and pressure drops?
“There has actually been a few papers that there is or is not a risk,” Dr. Jamil Neme, SSM Sports Medicine physician, said. “But there seems to be something about when women are later on in their pregnancies; if you have an expansion of that fluid, it can have a thinning of that membrane. It actually can set off into deliveries.”
Those with arthritis, old wounds, and headaches are great forecasters of storms and pressure changes, yes?
“A lot of my patients who come in with arthritic pains tell me they know when it is going to hurt more,” Neme said. “When you have a drop in barometric pressure and expansion of fluid, then you are going to have that squeezing and swelling sensation.”
What about old wounds throbbing?
“If they have chronic tendon issues or chronic pains where there is a risk of swelling in that area, same idea with that drop in pressure; you are going to have expansion of that swelling,” Neme said.
Do we know if headaches and temperament changes are connected?
“If you do have headaches that are prone to being worse with sinus issues, that drop in pressure is going to expand that sinus fluid and cause worsening headaches,” Dr. Neme said. “And if anybody is dealing with a bad headache for any length of time, they are going to get irritable.”
How do pressure changes affect young school children?
“We really do notice that our students can get agitated; some of them get a little nervous,” Molly Clince, Rockwood School District’s Teacher of the Year, said. “For some students, it doesn’t bother them at all; they go about their everyday business. For the ones that seem to be a bit more sensitive, it may take them off task or they be a little nervous. And for those students, we have to be aware of those needs and address them in the classroom.
“It is definitely different for every student, just like it is for an animal in your home. Some want to go and hide, and that truly has happened. I have students that have gone underneath their desk, and just removed themselves from the classroom situation. To students who can’t focus on their classwork at the time because they are so concerned about if there’s an actual storm coming. ‘Do I need to look out that classroom window?’ ‘Can you please pull up a radar for me?’ ‘I feel like something is going to happen.’ ‘I am very worried about that situation and really need to know more information.'”
Is it a physical or emotional reaction?
“I think it is both. Children are so conditioned to needing new information and wanting more information that if we can provide that for them, it really helps alleviate some of the stress,” Clince said. “But I do think that some of our students really feel that internal pressure change and they don’t really know how to handle that. And they don’t have the coping skills right now to handle that.”
Winter storm pressure changes are perceived less threatening and elicit a different response.
“Students and adults alike, we get very excited when we hear there is the potential for snow heading our direction. So we will see students getting very amped up. If you want to talk about the inability to focus on classwork, when we hear there is about to be a storm system coming with white stuff, they get very excited.
Does pet behavior change before a storm? How does it manifest?
“Some dogs and cats can be hypersensitive to changes in air pressure; they can even tell with static electricity if a storm is coming, so they may know a couple hours before we do that a storm is on the way,” Robyn Dexter, Missouri Humane Society, said. “They just have a much more sensitive system than we do. Their noses are better than ours.”
Pets sound the alarm in different ways.
“With a lot of dogs, it’s anxiety. Pacing, shaking, exhibiting various kinds of anxious behavior,” Dexter said.
