US Pharm. 2006;6:8.

Shelves are now stocked with everything for summer pleasure: outdoor chairs, goggles and fins, barbecue supplies, and bug repellents. Most of us look forward to summer and spending time outside with family and friends. Unfortunately, health threats also come with summer heat. Insects that may spread disease proliferate in warmer weather. Sunburn and serious conditions such as heat stroke occur during hot summer days. Pharmacists can offer patients some simple precautions to protect themselves. Patient education should include advice on surviving hot summer days either at home or away on vacation.

Air quality is a concern for those who have respiratory problems. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Air Quality Index (AQI) is used for forecasting daily air quality. It tells how clean or polluted the air is and what associated health concerns patients should be aware of. The AQI focuses on health effects that can occur within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air. Besides air quality, wind is a also health consideration because it can carry pollution and allergens far distances, therefore affecting people with respiratory ailments such as asthma.

Many people find the weather aggravates arthritis. Pain specialists sometimes suggest that patients keep a detailed journal of weather conditions to establish a possible relationship to their pain. Changes in weather are more likely than particular weather conditions to affect the severity of common aches and pains. For example, rapidly falling barometric pressure, which generally signals the onset of stormy weather, is believed to have a strong correlation with the potential for feeling aches and pains. An increase in absolute humidity, especially in the summer, can lead to an increased potential for aches and pains. Some research also finds a correlation between dry, cold air and migraine headaches. According to research by the New England Center for Headache, as many as half of all migraines are triggered by weather. It is believed that barometric pressure changes may bring on headaches, if the sinus cavities are slow to equalize air pressure. Damp, cold weather can intensify sinus pain. Extremes in temperature, not just changing temperatures, can also affect the potential for feeling aches and pains.

It is important to educate people about the ways they can protect themselves from potentially serious health problems in summer. This issue of U.S. Pharmacist will provide some valuable points for patient counseling. Keep it handy!

Laura La Piana Simonsen
Executive Managing Editor

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