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Weather affects different people differently. Bright blue skies, blankets of snow, crisp days and cozy nights by a crackling fire. For many people, winter is a welcome time of year. But for people with certain diseases like arthritis, it can be a pain, literally.

While cold weather doesn’t cause arthritis or most other conditions that get worse when temperatures drop, it can cause problems for people who have them. If you’ve got one of these conditions, here’s what you need to know to survive winter’s chill.

“Weather affects different people differently,” Dr. Mark Gourley of NIH (National Institutes of Health) says. “Some people actually prefer cold weather, but many people with rheumatoid arthritis or lupus will be more stiff in the morning. It can take them longer to get up and loosen their joints and get going.”

Arthritis

There’s very little research showing that cold weather directly causes arthritis or alters its course. So why does the cold seem to make arthritis feel worse?

As the weather changes, so can the pressure in your joints. If you think of the tissues surrounding the joint as a balloon, Gourley explains, the balloon around the joint will expand a little when air pressure is low. The expanding tissues put pressure on the joint. People can actually feel changes in air pressure in their joints, which is why some people say they can predict the weather by the pain in their joints.

“Do what you can to keep warm,” Gourley says.

  1. Bundle up from head to toe in several layers.
  2. Preheat the car before getting into it and make sure your home or apartment is kept warm.
  3. Sleep under an electric blanket,
  4. Warm clothing in the dryer before dressing up
  5. Drink warm or hot drinks, such as coffee, tea or hot chocolate.
  6. It’s important to keep moving.
  7. Try exercising the affected joints before going out in the cold weather. It also helps to maintain a regular exercise program year round.

 

Exercise will not only loosen stiff joints, but will help prevent winter weight gain that puts more stress on painful joints. Joint stiffness isn’t the only problem low temperatures can cause.

Raynaud’s disease

Raynaud’s disease is a condition in which the blood vessels quickly narrow, reducing the flow of blood and causing the skin on the fingers, toes and even the nose to temporarily turn white, then bluish. As blood flow returns, the skin turns red and becomes painful. In rare severe cases, Raynaud’s can cause skin sores or tissue death (gangrene) at the tips of the fingers and toes.
As with arthritis, the best advice for people with Raynaud’s is to keep warm. “Wear mittens as opposed to gloves,” Gourley advises. That way, the fingers can help keep each other warm. See the article in NIH last month’s issue for more about Raynaud’s.

Sjögren’s syndrome

Sjögren’s syndrome is another condition that can get worse in colder weather. In Sjögren’s syndrome, the immune system attacks the body’s moisture-producing glands, leading to dryness of the eyes, mouth and other tissues. Cool, dry weather can exacerbate the situation.
People with Sjögren’s syndrome need to add moisture back into the environment when the air is dry.

  1. Run a humidifier to raise the humidity level in your home.
  2. Use lotions after bathing to keep skin moist.
  3. Use artificial tears for dry eyes.
  4. Keep a water bottle on hand to sip to relieve dry mouth.
  5. Be careful about using mouthwashes with alcohol or over-the-counter cold remedies, either of which can worsen dryness.

 

Many prescription medications, including antidepressants and high blood pressure medications, can also cause dry mouth. If you’re taking these medications and having trouble with dry tissues, ask your doctor about the possibility of changing your medication or combating dryness with other treatments. In more severe cases, your doctor may prescribe a medication to increase saliva flow or recommend a simple medical procedure to block the drainage of tears out of your eyes, leaving more natural tears in the eyes to moisten and lubricate them.

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis—in which the bones become porous and prone to fracture—may not itself worsen with cold. However, icy steps and walkways in the wintertime can present a particular danger to people whose bones are fragile. Slipping and falling can cause painful fractures that can be slow to heal and even disabling.
If you have osteoporosis, in addition to following the treatment plan your doctor prescribes, it’s important to take measures to reduce your risk of falling.

  1. Make sure you have handrails on your porch.
  2. Keep sidewalks free of snow and ice.
  3. Avoid wearing shoes with slippery soles.

If you take medications that affect your balance or stability, ask your doctor about the possibility of changing medications, or at least the timing of medications so that they’re less likely to interfere with daytime activities.

Lung Diseases

Cold weather may also affect people with certain lung diseases. For example, asthma can be triggered in some people by physical activity in cold weather. Rheumatoid lung disease, caused by the same immune response that affects the joints of people with rheumatoid arthritis, is characterized by shortness of breath, cough, chest pain and fever. For people with rheumatoid lung disease, winter air can aggravate problems breathing.
“If you have marginal breathing capacity and you compromise that in any way,” Gourley says, “cold winter air can make breathing worse.”
If you have difficulty breathing:

  1. Try a face mask when you need to go out in the cold. Such masks, which can be found at many outdoor and sporting goods stores.
  2. Cover your mouth and use the heat from your own breathing to warm the air before it enters your lungs.

 

If you have symptoms brought on by cold weather, be sure to mention them to your doctor.

Source: National Institutes of Health

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