Forecasting with fractures: why aching joints predict freaky weather

Convinced that your long-healed pelvic fracture aches right before a big thunderstorm? It might not be in your head: once largely dismissed as a myth, the idea that aching joints can forecast changing weather is now gaining traction among some scientists.

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As The Wall Street Journal reports, several studies have found links between changes in temperature, barometric pressure or humidity and discomfort among sufferers of conditions like osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Researchers still aren't sure exactly why that connection exists, but they do have several theories. Where storms are concerned, experts speculate that a change in barometric pressure before rainfall causes changes to the pressure inside joints. That increased pressure triggers friction between the joint and surrounding nerves or tissue. Want to keep tabs on the likelihood of weather-induced bone pain? There's a website for that: both the Weather Channel and AccuWeather maintain indexes to tabulate the odds that local weather will make you ache.

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/15/4840856/why-aching-joints-forecast-weather-changes
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