Bioweather

Heat, Humidity and the Grumpies

Aug 6, 2007 Andi Bryant

Feeling a little grouchy because of summer time heat? There is a reason for that.

The body's natural method of protection for cooling down on those days of elevated temperatures is through sweating. When humidity and rising dew points factor in, the environmental temperature rises above the body's ability to regulate its internal comfort zone, and sweating becomes insufficient. A person may feel grumpy and irritable, and their otherwise stable tolerance heads into abandonment. They might even find it necessary to consciously tone down their temperament to a more acceptable level. So how come the change in mood?

Manfred Kaiser, author of "How the Weather Affects Your Health" refers to this climate - health clash as "bioweather", a term that has been around since 1958. He writes, "A person is weather sensitive when his or her nervous system reacts excessively to changes in meteorological elements, such as rapid fluctuations of barometric pressure or changes in humidity and temperature".

Personal comfort zones are based on our acclimation to what is an average temperature for the environment we live in. A significant rise in that temperature leads the body into a more strenuous cardiovascular pattern because of our need to sweat to regulate our core temperature. With an unhealthy person, that can be devastating. For most healthy people, a temperature rise can lead to more subtle changes like mood and temperament alterations.

Kaiser believes that it takes roughly 14 days for a body to acclimate to noticeable changes in temperature, so it makes sense that heat waves are uncomfortable for those who are more sensitive to weather changes. People who live in regions that experience periodic heat waves know that temperature spikes come in spurts or pulses and do not hold steady for long periods of time. There is little chance that a person can properly acclimate because the excessive heat doesn’t sustain itself long enough to do so.

According to the Global Bioweather website, "Sensitive people become irritated a day or two before the change and are often miserable when a weather front arrives".It is arguable that this is perhaps not a physical sensitivity, but a psychological event that comes into play with the idea that a heat wave is approaching. Those who know they have a predisposition to adverse moods in the summertime will often scan weather reports searching for the hot and humid days. When that type of weather is on its way, the ingrained response is to dread it days before the actual sticky air mass arrives. It is perhaps the awareness of how that heat and humidity behaves on the body that brings out the upset.

Since the brain is in charge of regulating body temperature, it is quite possibly a pre-emptive event that physical discomforts and mood changes happen; a course of action established by the brain to protect the body from heat stressed conditions. When the outside temperature increases and the near depressive symptoms such as foul mood, the feeling of wishing to remain inactive and irritability overcome a person, they are less inclined to jump on any impulse to engage in strenuous activities. The brain's ability to keep a body idle is something that, in the long run, can prove to be a saving grace in dangerous heat.

So if you're feeling a little grumpy during the warmer days, treat your seemingly psychological state of mind to some shade and water. Be sensible, keep yourself cool and stay inside if you have to. These simple steps will directly impact your body's ability to function adequately. Know your moods in hot weather conditions and make changes accordingly when you find yourself furrowing your brow at the world.

The copyright of the article Bioweather in General Medicine is owned by Andi Bryant. Permission to republish Bioweather in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.