Humidity brings pain for arthritis sufferers, according to a new study

If you suffer from arthritis, you’re more likely to feel pain when it’s humid outside.

Researches at the University of Manchester recently conducted a study, funded by Versus Arthritis, where they analyzed the experiences of people with conditions like arthritis, fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain.

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The scientists observed data from nearly 3,000 people using a smartphone app. Participants were asked to record their daily symptoms using the app, while their phone's GPS allowed researches to collect data about the weather in their location. While participants suffered from a range of health issues, the majority had arthritis. Arthritis affects 24 million adults in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The study revealed that people with long-term health conditions are 20% more likely to suffer from pain on days that are humid and windy, according to the University of Manchester.

“Weather has been thought to affect symptoms in patients with arthritis since Hippocrates,” said Will Dixon , a professor at the Center for Epidemiology Versus Arthritis at the University of Manchester, who led the study. Around three quarters of people living with arthritis believe their pain is affected by the weather. Yet despite much research examining the existence and nature of this relationship, there remains no scientific consensus.”

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Researchers didn’t discover any correlation to pain and temperature, but humid days were the most likely to be painful while dry days were the least.