Can atmospheric pressure affect our health?
The short answer: yes, it can.
Our bodies are made of fluids and gases. As atmospheric pressure rises and falls, so does the pressure exerted on your body. Low atmospheric pressure creates a difference between the surrounding air and the air within us. This can lead to headaches, joint pain, sleep disturbances, and other biochemical changes. Atmospheric pressure can therefore affect your health, physiology, sense of well-being, and behavior.
In plants, hypobaric stress (low atmospheric pressure) can even alter gene expression profiles. Whether this also applies to humans remains unclear, but it shows that biological systems respond measurably even to small changes in air pressure.
Atmospheric pressure isn’t the only weather phenomenon that affects us. Studies suggest that a nearby lightning strike increases the risk of headache or migraine by up to 30%.
Barometric pressure is a measure of atmospheric pressure—the weight of the air above the ground. A barometer is used to measure it, typically expressed in millimeters of mercury. At sea level, air pressure is 760 mm Hg. A barometer measures pressure relative to ground-level references, so readings differ with elevation.
High pressure pushes the atmosphere down toward the surface, reducing cloud cover and bringing clear, dry weather. Low pressure occurs when the ground is warm, heating surface air and causing it to rise. As air rises, it expands and cools. Warmer air holds more water vapor than cooler air; as temperature drops, vapor condenses, producing rain or storms.
As air pressure rises or falls, the pressure on your body and in your sinuses changes too. A low-pressure front can cause parts of the body to swell. Some people are more sensitive to pressure changes than others. Older adults and those under chronic stress are known to be more susceptible.
Our heads contain air-filled sinuses that normally equilibrate with ambient pressure. Sudden changes, however, create a mismatch between outside air and the air inside the sinuses. This can cause headaches and even migraines.
Joints and nerves
Did you know that people with arthritis (joint pain) and neuropathy (nerve pain) may experience negative effects when air pressure drops? The theory is that pressure shifts can trigger contractions of tendons, muscles, nerves, and scar tissue, thereby provoking pain.
Together with low temperatures, the fluid in joint sacs can also become thicker. In this way, people with arthritis may feel more stiffness and difficulty moving. Poor weather also keeps people indoors, leading to less activity; inactive joints become more painful and stiff. This weather-related joint and nerve pain is known as meteoropathy.
Heart
What about your heart? When barometric pressure decreases, blood vessels constrict, requiring more pressure to force blood through small veins and arteries—raising blood pressure. Blood pressure can also rise due to lower temperatures or sudden weather changes, such as during storms.
Low air pressure also makes the blood more viscous. In other words, when it’s cold, blood pressure rises and blood thickens. This combination may well help explain why heart attacks are nearly twice as common in winter as in summer.
Thicker blood can also lower blood glucose levels, potentially leading to migraine, dizziness, and fatigue. There’s even a term for this: “low barometric pressure fatigue.” It includes the phenomenon of reduced blood sugar due to weather changes, typically low atmospheric pressure.
Sleep
You might think a good night’s sleep solves health issues, but that’s not always true. Weather changes also affect sleep patterns. Cool air can help you sleep better, but a low-pressure storm may do the opposite. Thunder, lightning, and bad weather can heighten anxiety and disrupt sleep with loud sounds and bright flashes. Low air pressure can also worsen symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea, a condition marked by difficult breathing during sleep.
Insects
Insects change their mating behavior when air pressure drops—often preceding rain—or signals strong winds when pressure rises. It was recently found that on days of falling pressure, male beetles are less likely to respond to female pheromones that normally regulate mating. This does not surprise researchers who have studied insects for years. Joop van Lanteren, an entomologist at Wageningen University & Research, pauses live-insect experiments for a few days during bad weather because insects behave differently.
Atmospheric pressure is an abiotic factor
Abiotic factors are the non-living parts of the natural environment that can strongly influence living organisms. They include water, sunlight, oxygen, soil, and temperature.
Biotic factors are all living elements within an ecosystem, such as plants and animals. These interact in many ways and are often grouped into producers, consumers, and decomposers.
In conclusion, low air pressure—together with low temperature, limited sunlight, sudden weather changes, and other abiotic factors—can affect your body in various ways, from increased joint pain and headaches to higher blood pressure and sleep issues. So if you’re not feeling well, consider whether a force of nature might be the cause. After reading this blog, take a moment to reflect on how and to what extent nature influences us, and try to be as prepared as possible for weather and the coming seasons. Studies and experiments in mammals may need to account more carefully for abiotic factors like atmospheric pressure and temperature, as is already common in insect research.
