A new study provides evidence that warm weather conditions are associated with an increase in migraines and other severe headaches, something that many migraine sufferers have been saying for years. Appearing in the March 10 issue of the journal Neurology, the study also reports a connection between severe headaches and lower atmospheric pressure.

While many people who suffer from severe headaches, especially those with migraines, believe there is a connection between environmental conditions such as weather and their headache symptoms, very little research has examined the relationship. In the present study, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston examined the records of 7,054 patients who visited the emergency room at the Medical Center between May 2000 and December 2007 and who were discharged with a primary diagnosis of headache (about one-third of which were confirmed migraines). They used weather and pollution data to see if there was a relationship between the number of emergency room visits for headaches and several environmental factors that included air temperature, air pressure, humidity, fine particulate matter, black carbon, and nitrogen and sulfur dioxides pollutants.

The results showed that the air temperature in the 24 hours prior to a patient's hospital visit was most closely associated with headache symptoms, with a 7.5 percent higher risk of severe headache reported for each 5 degree Celsius increase in temperature (about 9 degrees Fahrenheit). To a lesser degree, lower barometric pressure 48 to 72 hours prior to a patient's emergency room visit also appeared to trigger headache. There was no evidence of an association between headache onset and environmental pollutants.

The researchers say their data clearly demonstrate a relationship between environmental conditions and the onset of severe headache, providing evidence that external factors can trigger the condition and may be responsible for many headaches each year. They add that while there is not much an individual headache sufferer can do about the weather, knowing that air temperature is a potential trigger might allow people to take special precautions to avoid exposure to other known headache triggers when the temperature rises, or provide an opportunity for them to take medications in advance to avoid a migraine. Talk to your doctor if you want to learn more about your potential migraine triggers or about the medications available for migraines.

Learn more about preventing migraine headaches by visiting "How Can I Prevent Migraines" in the Healia Health Guide to Migraines or share your own headache story in the Healia Health Community for Migraine Headache.

_{Photo: miss_rogue, Flickr, Creative Commons}