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Marian Peiger / EPA file
A lightning strikes over Danube river in the city of Bratislava, Slovakia in July.
As a headache expert at the University of Cincinnati Heath Center, Dr. Vincent Martin treated a lot of patients who complained that the weather made their migraines and headaches worse. As he peppered them with questions about what type of weather affected their headaches the most, he began noticing a trend. People experienced more headaches during thunder and lightning storms.
But there existed little scientific proof to back up the anecdotal evidence. So Martin -- and his son, Geoffrey Martin, a fourth year medical student at the University of Cincinnati -- decided to do something about it.
They asked 90 people with a history of migraines, from either Cincinnati or St. Louis, to keep daily journals for three to six months. In the journals, the patients recorded their symptoms, including the severity of the pain, any sensitivity to light and noise, and the duration of the pain. Then the researchers compared the journal information to data detailing when thunder and lightning storms occurred.
They found that when a lightning storm took place within 25 miles of a person’s home, they were 31 percent more likely to suffer from a headache and 28 percent more likely to experience a migraine.
“[We’re] really excited with the results and it's the first study of its type,” says Martin. “No one has really shown that lightning itself triggers migraines.”
The duo used mathematical models to isolate lightning’s impact on headaches, excluding information about heat, humidity and other meteorological events. Even controlling for other factors, the evidence shows that lightning increases a person’s chance of suffering from a headache by 19 percent.
“We don’t know 100 percent for sure why lightning provokes headaches,” Martin says, adding that the two have some theories.
Lightning strikes produce extra ozone, perhaps irritating headache sufferers. Also, the extreme conditions that lightning occurs in could release allergens, such as fungal spores, in higher amounts, leading to more headaches. Or the electromagnetic waves trigger the headaches. Martin notes that storms include tens of thousands of strike drastically changing the air’s ionization, leading to more head pain.
“Weather is one of the most common things we talk about on a daily basis. Weather influences every aspect of our lives,” Marin says. “[The study] needs to be replicated. [But it’s the] very first study showing that lightning is at the onset of [headaches].”
The report appears in the journal Cephalalgia.
Related:
Here's what a lightning strike can do to your skin
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Leave a Comment:
Maybe it was the change in atmospheric pressure that comes with weather fronts & not lightning.
I'm reasonably sure that barometric changes cause mine, at least. I can always tell when a storm or weather front is moving in because of the blinding headache I get. This past month up here in Minn. we've seen constant rise and fall in the pressure, and the migraines come in step with the air pressure changes. Of course, that's just "anecdotal" evidence. Considering that, especially in the warmer months, lightning occurs during storms, it's the pressure, not the lightning that causes the problem. Personally I enjoy the fresh smell of ozone after a thunderstorm.
His conclusion is "lightening triggers migraines". Come on, this medical student and his father need to go back to "logic school". This study showed a correlation, not that lightening itself triggers the migraine. The migraines could have been caused by the sudden change in pressure that accompanies storms, as noted in a previous comment or many other things. The level that science has devolved to and what passes for a scientific paper now is appalling. It is no wonder we are falling behind other countries in science.
I would place my bet on atmospheric pressure changes.
But if it is lightening more testing must be done to prove it. Electric motors produce ozone. Have patients sniff around running electric motors and see if they get migraines. Use other means to change the ions in air and see if people get migraines. Place people around other types of electrical fields and see if any get migraines.
Then come back with the results. Then we might know something.
Using an ion feature on air purifiers give some people headaches. I really feel electrical fields..hmm...maybe that's why I get headaches right before storms...pressure and electrical changes...hmm.
Headaches are due to the loud BOOM when lightning strikes. Simple.
The boom? Doubt it. More likely to be the flash, but I'm guessing neither. Either ozone, atmospheric pressure, or a combination of factors.
*shrug*
Testing aught to be done before we jump to conclusions.
I would say atmospheric pressure changes would do it. I get a headache when the weather isn't to me yet, but the pressure is changing. I feel my ears even pop when it gets closer if there is a fairly fast drop in pressure...gives me some pain and pressure in my ears, too. My daughter is like that as well, and when it's actually storming we love the storm but get irritable and the headache eases when it passes. I love storms, but definitely notice pressure changes. I haven't thought about the lightning being the culprit...doesn't totally explain things for me personally, but yes, I am very sensitive to energy changes, so it might be part of it.
I get a headache when the pressure drops and my daughter gets a migraine. It has nothing to do with lightning. My daughter takes a preventative every day to keep the migraines away. Her neurologist confirmed for us that the low pressure associated with bad weather makes the blood vessels in her head expand, causing a drop in the blood flow and triggering the migraine.
change to low pressure for sure
lightning? lol
And in other news, studies of people hit over the head with a baseball bat reveal that proximity to hickory wood may cause headaches.
I think they have LOT more work to do before they make the lightning correlation.
It's also been known to cause blackouts I wounder if that has any relationship to racism.
Headaches that cause blackouts could be the cause of hate crimes
DivingDancer, I think we need a Government Grant.
What about static electricity? Can that cause headaches? In the winter, I'm throwing sparks every time I touch a conductive surface. My hair is like Medusa's snakes and the hair throws sparks too. And yes, I get headaches more often than in other seasons.
I get cluster headaches I notice when the weather changes they get worse, but if there is lighting and I live in Arizona, so it is noticable, the headaches don't get any worse as the lighting gets closer and they are not any different if there is lighting but I'm going to start watching a little closer since we are now having a weather front, rain but no lighting and have I got a headache. If this study is trying to state this you would think that would happen as the lighting get closer the headache would increase in pain.
Yeah, every time I've been struck by lightning it has given me a headache, go figure
I live in Houston TX and when I was younger, I would get a migraine anytime there was a tropical storm or hurricaine in the Gulf. I outgrew them when I was about 50.
Totally weird, however, I occassionally get a headache during the time leading up to a big storm that seems to ebb once the storm starts or dies down.
I doubt that headaches are related to an increase in ozone.
I have an ozone clean air machine in my home that operates 12 hours a day, one in my auto that runs whenever I drive the car and another in my refrigerator. I don't suffer any increase in headaches as a result.
I do notice a decrease in dust and odors as a result.