The Weather Can Change Your Life

(Abridged and adapted article by Allen Bernard)

Are you shorter than other people? Do you suffer ill health? Are you nervous? Unsuccessful in business? The weather may be to blame! From conception to death, scientists say, we are all puppets of the weather. It manipulates us physically, mentally and emotionally; it has a decided influence upon our birth, growth, health, life span, work and behavior.

Man lives at the bottom of an immense ocean of air. He breathes from 7,000 to 10,000 quarts of it every day. Naturally the kind of air we take in has a great deal to do with what we are. And that’s what weather is: hot or cold air, moist or dry air, heavy or light air, turbulent or still air.

The human organism is extremely sensitive to the weather. Every time the temperature shifts or the barometer fluctuates, our bodies must adjust. “ Spring fever ”—the loginess (tiredness) that overcomes us during the first warm weather —is a simple example.

The effects of constant heat are much more drastic. Human beings living in the tropics are physically smaller, their babies are smaller than those in the temperate zones, infant mortality is higher. Children grow more slowly and—contrary to popular belief—sexual maturity is achieved from one to two years later. A fairly short exposure to severe heat is reflected in the low birth rate. Scientists have also found that babies conceived in the late Spring and early Fall are on the average healthier and have a longer life span (by about four years) than those conceived at other times. They also have a better chance for a successful career.

Like any engine, the human body must dispose of excess heat. In the human cooling system, blood vessels draw the heat to the surface and radiate it away from the body; sweat glands cool the body by evaporation. Unfortunately, this system is inadequate to cope with very hot weather, especially when the latter is accompanied by high humidity. For such we have a built-in thermostat. When the surrounding atmosphere makes the disposal of waste heat difficult, the body automatically lowers its rate of internal combustion (burning) and the vital processes of lifeslow down. And that includes the mental processes. It has been found that college students taking aptitude tests in hot weather achieve ratings only 60 per cent as high as those who take the same tests in winter.

Crimes of violence and passion occur much more frequently in tropical climates than in temperate zones; murder is three times more prevalent in our southern states than in the north; in northern states heat waves and crime waves coincide.

Barometric pressure influences our emotional behavior, too. When a storm approaches, the weight of the atmosphere lessens. To adjust to the falling pressure, our body tissues absorb water from the intestinal tract and begin to swell. The same process takes place inside the brain. But there the skull restricts tissue expansion, constricting the flow of blood to various lobes. Thinking becomes difficult; nervousness and depression increase. Statistics show that at this time suicides are more common, more people have headaches, fainting spells, amnesia and insomnia. There are more traffic accidents, bank tellers make more mistakes and more packages are left in buses, trains and movie houses.

When our body has to cut heat production our immunity mechanism weakens and we are easy targets for infection. Appendicitis is two and a half times more fatal in the South, TB victims live only half as long.

In a cold climate which encourages an active metabolism and high energy level we literally wear ourselves out. Heart failure is four times as frequent in cold weather; deaths from diabetes (a metabolic disease) increases twofold; cancer (except of the skin), pernicious anemia and respiratory diseases are far more prevalent. Fatal attacks of asthma in a surprisingly large number of cases occur after a sharp change in temperature. So do deaths from circulatory disease.

These are some of the things that weather can do to you. What can you do about the weather? According to Dr. Mills old folks and those with metabolic or cardio-vascular ills should move to a warm, moist climate where the heat will lower their blood pressure and reduce the load on afflicted organs and add years to their lives. Those with arthritis, rheumatism and respiratory diseases would do best in the Southwest, where storms are infrequent. Northerners should take vacations during the cold months when they burn most energy, Southerners should try to escape the worst heat by taking off for a more temperate climate on their summer vacations. That muggy feeling when a storm is approaching is a warning that important decisions should be postponed, calculations checked and double-checked, emotions restrained as much as possible. It’s a poor time to sell ideas to your boss or merchandise to a customer. So relax; go to the movies or a ball game, surprise your wife and kids with a small gift.

You don’t have to fight the weather, nor do you have to abjectly surrender to it. You can learn to live with it. If you do, you’ll live longer and enjoy life more.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29