Has your asthma ever flared up during or shortly after stormy weather? Turns out, there’s a pretty good reason for that. Research today agrees with thunderstorms and lightning strikes.
Physicians at the University of KANSAS Medical Center review Emergency Department information at area hospitals. On days when there was a hurricane, they found, the average number of asthma-related visits was significantly higher than on non-hurricane days. The findings suggest that people with asthma should take extra precautions when thunder is quickly predicted, the researchers said.
“The main takeaway is awareness,” lead author Diameb, an internal medicine resident at Kumc, told Gizmoto.
The thunder is coming
There were reports of “Thundlarcrem Asthma” epidemics back in the 1980s, which seemed to mostly affect people with seasonal allergies, or hay fever. But the most amazing incident happened almost ten years ago in Melbourne, Australia. In late November 2016, a thunderstorm appeared to trigger an asthma attack that sent more than 3,000 people to the emergency room, hospitalized nearly 500 residents, and killed at least 10.
Many studies have documented the condition around the world since, including some in the US according to Merheb, however, theirs is the first study to look at this meeting between climate and asthma in Wichita, Kansas, specifically. Importantly, Wichita is already known for having high seasonal pollen counts, and is currently a top-rated city on the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s Assergy Foundation. “
The investigators analyzed five ER data sets from three hospitals in Wichita, from January 2020 to December 2024. These data were then cross-referenced with local meteorologic records.
In those five years, 4,500 asthma-related visits were documented, and 38 storm days occurred in the region, accounting for 2% of the total days during the study period. But a 14.1% drop in all asthma-related visits occurred on those storm days, the researchers found. On average, there were about 18 asthma-related visits per day during thunderstorms, compared to an average of three visits per day when there were no thunderstorms.
The team presented their research this week at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. That means their work is early, because the study hasn’t been published in a peer-reviewed journal yet. The authors also note that their results can only show a connection between thunderstorms and asthma.
At the same time, recent discoveries have found a connection between these two things. “While this is demonstrable and effective, it suggests that depressing conditions, such as changes in the atmosphere or pollen dispersion, may play a role in flare-ups,” said Merhab.
What does this mean for people with asthma?
Given the findings of Merhab and others, it seems important for people with asthma to be more aware of the potential risk.
“For people living with asthma, we know that certain weather conditions can increase the risk, allowing for more effective management such as medication,” she said. “For Dcicia, it reinforces the importance of discussing environmental issues with their patients as part of routine breast care.”
According to sources, light rain shows may actually reduce people’s risk of seasonal allergies simply by cleaning up pollen from the environment. On the other hand, the causes of asthma attacks appear to be more complex. Previous research has suggested strong winds from thunderstorms can kick pollen or mold up into the air, while increased electrical activity or humidity during a storm can break down the pollen in extremely poor conditions.
But the arrival of praise alone is not enough to make it always the kind of southma surte seen during the Melbourne event. Therefore, there is a need for research to find out the exact drivers of asthma-busthma-asthma-asthma- they want to do.
“We hope to build on these findings by looking more closely at local climate and environmental variables, things like wind data, humidity, and pollen data, to better understand these events,” Merhab said.
Meanwhile, if you have asthma and see a thunderstorm on the way, that should give you more incentive to stay tight inside if you can.
