Feeling under the weather
Aunty …
One stormy day in the summer of 2002, more than 100 extra people went to hospital in the UK with asthma symptoms compared to a normal day.
Heart attacks and strokes also increase a few days after a fall in temperature, because cold causes stress to the vascular system.
The lung disease chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), in which the bronchial tubes are damaged making it harder to breathe, is also affected by the weather.
a new service, launched by the Met Office in November last year, is already claiming success in keeping people well.
More than 8,000 patients in 189 practices across the UK have now signed up to use the ‘Healthy Outlook COPD Forecast Alert’ at a cost of just £18 per patient.
And the latest statistics show that there has been a 21% reduction in hospital admissions among those using the service, compared with the previous winter.
In practices not using the scheme, the fall was just 3%.
