The Anonymous Widower

Do Thunderstorms Cause Strokes?

On Saturday evening, we had a severe thunderstorm in North London.

All day long, I’d been drinking heavily, but as it was only tea and low-alcohol Adnams Ghost Ship 0.5 %, the worst that could happen is an accident on an extra visit to the toilet.

I came to the conclusion though, that most of the fluids was leaving my body through my skin.

Does this lower my INR? I do know that in hot and humid weather, I have difficulty raising it. In the last week or so, it has been hovering around 2.2, but yesterday, it was a very safe 2.7.

But as I test regularly, this may well help to protect me from another stroke.

Typing “Thunderstorms and Strokes” into Google, I found this paper on the National Library of Medicine, which is entitled Relationship Between Weather Conditions And Admissions For Ischemic Stroke And Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

It is an interesting read.

This was the aim of the study.

To assess impacts of different weather conditions on hospitalizations of patients with ischemic strokes and subarachnoid hemorrhages (SAH) in South Florida.

And this was the conclusion.

Higher number of ischemic stroke and SAH cases can be expected with the daily lowest and highest air pressure, highest air temperature. Presence of hurricanes or tropical storms increased the risk of ischemic stroke but not the SAH. These findings can help to develop preventive health plans for cerebrovascular diseases.

From my own observations on INR for nearly ten years, I certainly believe that INR moves up and down with the weather because of the laws of physics.

Next time a severe thunderstorm is forecast, I will track my INR throughout the day.

September 19, 2023 - Posted by AnonW | Health | Adnams, INR, Physics, Stroke, Tea, Weather