ACKNOWLEDGING THE WEATHER/HEALTH LINK By Joe D'Aleo with Christine D’Aleo Willett In 1877, S.Weir Mitchell, a Philadelphia doctor wrote an article in the prestigious American Journal of Medical Sciences on "The Relation of Pain to Weather". The article related the onset and degree of pain recorded in a log by a Union Captain, whose leg had been amputated after a Civil War injury, to local weather conditions. He observed that the pain began as pressures fell and humidity and temperatures rose, conditions usually associated with an approaching storm. He noted the pain continued until the pressures began to rise and humidities began to fall as the storm departed. Seventy years later in Germany, another very similar study confirmed this relationship and really kick-started a new science, called Biometeorology, formed from the two Greek words "bios" meaning life and meteoros meaning "the study of phenomena up above (thus weather phenomena in the atmosphere)". The new science studied the effect of weather on life (health). This time the two players were Otto Hollich, a PhD student at the University of Hamburg and Claus Thurkow, a German soldier. Claus had lost an arm in 1945 after heavy shrapnel injury suffered in World War II. He kept a detailed daily log of the onset, degree and duration of pain for five years while the meteorology student tracked the daily weather. The meteorology student used more sophisticated statistical methods than the earlier study but the results were very much the same. He noted that the pain began when pressure fell and relative humidity rose, the first sign of an approaching storm. The research showed the pain continued until the storm and cold front finally passed, pressure began to rise and temperature and humidity began to fall. humidity began to fall. The pain and weather relationship has since been established beyond reasonable doubt from further controlled studies. Much additional research in both the US and abroad has since established relationships between many ailments and weather conditions. The International Society for Biometeorology was founded in 1956 in order to connect scientists in various disciplines throughout the world as they continued to explore biometeorological problems. One key proponent in the United States was a member of the early ISB. The late Helmut Landsberg, Professor at the University of Maryland, was considered by many to be the father of modern Climatology. He combined his work in the ISB society with contributions in the World Meteorological Organization. He was a successful integrator of two disciplines, publishing a book on Weather and Health (Doubleday 1969). In the second half of this century, advances in scientific research have resulted in an explosion of data in the field of biometeorology. The methods of modern biometeorology are increasingly acknowledged by workers in disciplines of potential application. Medical personnel now acknowledge the potential benefit of a well developed biometeorological forecast. A new discipline is now emerging as a result; the discipline of medical meteorology. The ISB developed a Climate and Health Commission which focuses on identifying and clarifying the ways in which weather affects health in order to develop a set of health guidelines for physicians. The Germans have taken a world lead in this new discipline. For years now, the German meteorological service has provided daily advice and advisories to hospitals, doctors and clinics in Germany on which ailments are likely to be aggravated due to expected weather conditions. Author Joseph D’Aleo, climatologist and Certified Consulting Meteorologist (CCM), elected a Fellow and Councilor by his peers and a former Chairman of the Committee on Weather Analysis and forecasting of the American Meteorological Society, is passionate about this topic and has repeatedly advocated for the availability of weather and health resources designed for public use, not just scientists and medical personnel. As a college professor in the 1970s, he explored the weather and health connection with his students. As Director of Meteorology for the Weather Channel from 1980 until 1989, he developed a Weather and Your Health segment that informed viewers of various ailments and their associations with the weather. As Chief Meteorologist at WSI, Corp. from 1989 to 2005, he was known as Dr. Dewpoint and wrote heavily on the subject. He also developed a popular Weather and Health module for intellicast.com that forecasted hotspots for varying health concerns.