Smartphone research project shows link between weather and chronic pain

Early findings from an Arthritis Research UK-funded study have offered evidence of a link between weather conditions and changes in people's level of chronic pain.The University of Manchester has revealed preliminary findings from the Cloudy with a Chance of Pain study, which is now halfway through its 18-month duration, revealing a correlation between the number of sunny days and rainfall levels and changes in pain levels.The early findingsMore than 9,000 people are taking part in the research, which gives members of the public with long-term pain access to a special smartphone app to record their daily pain symptoms.The app also independently captures hourly weather conditions using the smartphone GPS, meaning pain trends can be linked with local weather events in real time.Looking at interim data for three cities - Leeds, Norwich and London - it was shown that as the number of sunny days increased from February to April, the amount of time people spent experiencing severe pain decreased accordingly. Chronic pain levels then flared up again in June, when the weather was wetter and there were fewer hours of sunshine.More participants neededThe early findings are encouraging, but the researchers are keen to recruit more participants in order to give them access to the widest possible range of data. As such, the team is still on the lookout for people who are willing to track their symptoms.Those interested in taking part in the Cloudy with a Chance of Pain project who have ac...
Source: Arthritis Research UK - Category: Rheumatology Source Type: news