Under the Weather: How Weather and Climate Affect Our Health

by Pat Thomas

An entertaining and fact-filled look at the links between health and climate, this book details both short-term symptoms and life-threatening conditions that can be aggravated by the weather. It explains how to be protected from the extremes of weather as well as how to ease weather-related symptoms. Startling weather-related observations include evidence that the onset of labor is more common when barometric pressure is falling; migraines can be made much worse by cold and winds; deaths from heart disease are more common on days when there are blustery winds bringing changeable temperatures; changes in humidity can cause scar tissue to ache; and patients with noninherited forms of schizophrenia are twice as likely to have been born in extreme weather conditions as those with the inherited form of the disease.

257 pages, Paperback

First published January 29, 2004

About the author

There is more than one Pat Thomas in the Goodreads catalog. This entry focuses on Pat [^5] Thomas, children's author.

Pat Thomas has written 25 books, including Cleaning Yourself to Death, Overcoming Headaches, and Alternative Therapies for Pregnancy and Birth. She regularly writes health columns for Here's Health, The Guardian, and Health and Fitness.

Reviews

[Mom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since the subtitle is "How Weather and Climate Affect Our Health" I expected that to be the main theme of the book. It wasn't. Only a small portion deals with the correlation of weather/climate to health, and even that portion was not what I expected! The book is really about the history of meteorology. That sounds incredibly boring (to me) so whenever I got ready to read, I'd reach for something else. However, when I DID pick it up, I found that I really enjoyed it. The author has a somewhat whimsical style and the book is filled with amusing anecdotes - both his own and of historical figures. Overall, I would recommend, with the understanding of what the book is reallly about.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book FASCINATING! It was very well researched and really got me thinking about how little I consider the effects of the outside world upon my health and well-being. It talks about everything from indoor air quality ("sick building syndrome") to the psychological effects of the wind to the reality of achy joints when a storm is coming. Loved it.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having lived near Binghamton NY, one of the greyist cities in the US, I have seen the impact of weather on mood. It's amazing that there are so few books on this subject. This book may not be hard science but it is a beginning in a field that needs a bit more sun shone on it.

[Hope]

The title sounded interesting, and the basic information is, but the style is pretty dry, and I just have too many other things to read at this point to slog through it.