59

Biometeorological Study on the Relationship between
Weather and Chronic Disease－Possibility of Weather
Forecasting for Health and Disease
Yoshitaka FUKUOKA1*, Ken-ichi KIDA2 and Ryoji MIYASHITA3
1Rissho University
1700 Magechi, Kumagaya 360-0194, Japane-mail: yfclimat@ris.ac.jp
2
TERUMO Co.
2-44-1 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-0072, Japan
3
IDEA (Metocean Environment) INC.
3-15-1 Komazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 154-8585, Japan*corresponding author

Abstract
The present study was an attempt to elucidate the relationship between weather and diseases from abiometeorological perspective based on a survey conducted using TERUMO Co.’s “Questionnaire on
Health and Weather.” Most of the respondents replied with “I have experienced the effect of the weather
on my body condition.” Many people have some kind of chronic disease such as arthritis, neuralgia orbackache which is closely related to the weather. It can be concluded that the patterns of body conditions and disease distribution are connected with some of the bioclimatic divisions obtained by Yoshinoand Fukuoka (2002), and that there are, in general, four typical patterns. In addition, it was concluded
that ancient weather proverbs and old sayings transmitted as wisdom of aged persons are effective in
weather forecasting for health and disease.
Key words: bioclimate forecast, bioclimatic division, disease, weather-health relationship,
weather proverb

1. Introduction
Recently many kinds of weather forecasts related
to everyday life have been offered for people engaging
in sports, shopping, fishing, washing, transportation,touring, etc., in Japan. But very little information or
weather forecasts related to health and disease are provided on TV or in newspapers, whereas in Germany
medical weather forecasting (Medizin-meteorologische Vorhersage) has been carried out since 1952 in
relation to more than 20 diseases.
In the century of health care through environmental management, it is said that everyone’s dependence on the weather is heightening (Fast, 1979;
Rosenthal, 1992; Sasaki, 1982; Yoshino & Fukuoka,2002, 2003). Little is known on what degree of interest in the weather there is or what kinds of weather
information are needed for people with chronic diseases. Based on a survey using the “Questionnaire on
Health and Weather” provided by TERUMO Co. inTokyo, this study tried to elucidate in biometeriGlobal Environmental Research
11: 59-64 (2007)
printed in Japanorological terms the level of interest in the relationship between weather and diseases which respondents
had experienced and to confirm the possibility of
weather forecasting for health and disease by applying
or revitalizing old sayings and proverbs related to theweather and health.

2. Previous Studies
There have been very few studies on weather forecasting for health even though such forecasts are supplied on TV in Japan as well as in Germany and inGerman newspapers. The relationship between weather
and diseases has been researched by many biometeorologists (Yoshino & Miyashita, 2007; Hoppe, 1982,1999; Jendritzky, 1992, 1998; Kalkstein, 1991;
Momiyama, 1980; Terjung, 1966a, 1966b, 1967, 1968
and others). However, only a very small number ofpapers can found on weather forecasting for disease
and health, consisting of studies by practitioners suchas Shoji (2003), Ito (2003) and Matsumura (2003) in©2007 AIRIES

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Japan. Those forecasts are applicable only to local
areas, yet people try to apply them to all of Japan
without the considering climatic regionality. The Japanese Archipelago is so long from north to south and sodifferent between the Pacific Ocean side and the Japan
Sea side that we need to modify the weather forecasts
for health to reflect climatic divisions. It is worth noting that Yoshino and Fukuoka (2003) attempted todivide Japan into various regions bioclimatologicallyand to indicate differences in vulnerability to hot orcold weather, medical conditions, mortality, and so on.

3. Study MethodDuring January 8-14, 2004, the questionnaire survey was conducted by fax (J-FAX Research System ofJMAR Co.), dividing Japan into six blocks (TohokuHokkaido, Kanto, Tokai-Shinetsu-Hokuriku, Kinki,Chugoku-Shikoku and Kyushu-Okinawa) involving
1,500 men and women in almost equal numbers. Theages of persons to whom questionnaires were sent
were the forties, fifties and sixties, consisting ofapproximately 500 in each age group. The response
rate was 78%. There were 1,168 respondents, consisting of 602 healthy persons and 566 chronic patients.
The ratio of males to females was 48.5 : 51.5, whilethe ratio of the age groups forties, fifties and sixties
was 32.0 : 32.9 : 35.1.
The relationship between weather and diseases is
considered for each region in Yoshino’s bioclimatological division of Japan as shown in Fig. 1(Yoshino & Fukuoka, 2003). His division consists offive primary regions, namely, Macro-scale Regions I
to V. The border between Regions I and II corresponds
to the annual average isotherm of 20°C. Regions IIand III are divided along the boundary where themonthly mean minimum temperature is 0°C. The
boundary between the Pacific Ocean side and theJapan Sea side corresponds to the boundary between
Regions III and IV. The boundary line between
Regions IV and V is the line where there are fourmonths of mean temperature of 0°C. Each primarydivision has one or five secondary regions, indicatedas I1, II2, III5 and so on. These are further subdivided
into two to five tertiary regions, that is, meso-scale
divisions. Figure 1 shows the five primary divisions,thirteen secondary divisions and 39 tertiary divisions.
Further details are given elsewhere (Yoshino &Miyashita, 2007).
Some examples of questions given in the questionnaires are as follows:
Q1. How is your health? Ans: 1. I’m very healthy,
2. I’m rather healthy, 3. I’m of average health,
4. I’m rather unhealthy, 5. I’m very unhealthy.
Q2. What kind of disease(s) are you suffering from?
Ans: 1. hypertension, 2. hypotension, 3. diabetes,
4. asthma, 5. rheumatism, 6. gout, 7. neuralgia, orothers.
Q4. What kinds of information for health do you receive? Ans: 1. On TV, 2. In newspapers, 3. Information from friends, 4. From magazines,
5. From doctors, 6. On the Internet, or others.
Q7. What do you think of the relationship between
weather or seasonal changes and health? Ans:
1. Bad weather causes old wounds to hurt,
2. Sudden changes in weather cause headaches,
3. Dry weather brings about itchiness, or otherrelationships.
Q8. Do you experience changes in your health related
to changes in weather or seasons? Ans: 1. frequently, 2. sometimes, 3. never.
Q12.Do you know of any bioweather forecasts?

4. Analysis of Study Results

Fig. 1 Bio-climatic Divisions of Japan.
(Yoshino & Fukuoka, 2003)

1) Seventy percent of the respondents had somekind of chronic disease. The three commonest chronic
diseases were arthritis, neuralgia and backaches,
which were closely related to weather.
2) Most of the respondents, that is, 81%, answeredthat there was a relationship between weather or seasons and health (left hand side of Fig. 2). Anotherlarge percentage, 72.9%, replied that they had
experienced the effects of weather on their health, asshown in Fig. 2 (right hand side). Positive responses
to Q7 were 8% higher among the chronic patients thanamong the respondents in good health.
3) More than 70% of the persons who answeredthat they thought there was a relationship between
weather and health had experiences such as “I get stiffshoulders when it becomes cold,” “Dry weather brings
about itchiness all over,” “I become depressed when
bad weather continues,” “Old wounds start to hurt

Biometeorological Study on the Relationship between Weather and Chronic Disease

Fig. 261

Weather change and health.

Fig. 3 Distribution of responses to question on if one thinks information
about the relationship between
weather and health is useful.

when bad weather continues,” and so on, as shown inFig. 3. Furthermore, the relationship between weather
and health conditions varied depending upon
the climatic divisions shown in Fig. 1, as indicated inFigs. 4(1) ~ 4(8). It is worth noting that 90% ofpatients had had such experiences with the effects ofweather change.
4) Regarding diseases which may be effected by
the weather, 80.4% of respondent indicated arthritis,neuralgia and backaches. About 65% indicated asthma
and dermatological allergies, while about 61% indicated rheumatism, influenza, chronic bronchitis,
angina pectoris, cardiac infarction and hypertension
symptoms, as shown in Fig. 5.
5) The respondents who had experienced the mosteffects of weather were aware of the relationship between the weather and health or disease. It is therefore
concluded that old weather proverbs and old sayings
transmitted as wisdom of aged persons are effective in
predicting the impact of weather conditions on healthor disease (Yoshino & Fukuoka, 2003).
6) Examples of old sayings include “When it iscold, one may have a stiff – neck” (from a proverb inJapan and China), “Dry weather makes one itchy fromhead to foot” (also from a proverb), “If bad weather isapproaching, there will be pain in old sores” (from a
proverb in China as well as in Japan), “The toes hurtwhen it rains” (proverb in America), and so on. Generally speaking, most health or disease proverbs express
the relationship between causes and effects in reverse
order, i.e., the effects first.

7) Remarkable features of major diseases:7)-1 Chronic headaches, migraines
A larger number of women complained of these
disease than men, and more young than old. They suffered from stiff shoulders, backaches, eye strain, lackof energy and constipation more than other persons.
More than 90% had experienced the effects of weather
on their health.
7)-2 Rheumatism
More than 60% of persons who replied that there
was a relationship between weather and health suffered from rheumatism. In daily life, 85% of persons
complained of pain in their knees or lower back when
the weather changed suddenly.
7)-3 Hypotension (low blood pressure)This is taken less seriously than hypertension (highblood pressure), but it occurred among many persons
who were in poor health with stiff shoulders, eyefatigue, sluggishness, headaches, etc.
7)-4 Angina pectoris, cardiac infarction
Very few of the respondents suffered from angina
pectoris or cardiac infarction but some of them had thecomplication of hypertension which brought about‘breathlessness,’ ‘numbness of limbs,’ and so on.
About 60% of the angina-pectoris patients felt effects
of weather change. For example, they said their chest
felt constricted when bad weather prevailed.
7)-5 Asthma
This disease was most affected by weather conditions, at a rate of more than 95%. Remarkably, it wascomplicated by skin allergies.
8) It can be concluded that the patterns of disease
distribution were connected with some of the bioclimatic divisions obtained by Yoshino and Fukuoka(2003). There were four typical patterns as follows:
A-type (Western Japanese climate, including III1,III2, IV1C and IV2C): in winter, bad weather or cold
weather brings about stiff finger joints, a stiff backand skin allergies. For instance, see Fig. 4(4) for the
distribution of answers that when the weather changes
one suffers stiff finger joints and Fig. 4(6) for that ofcold weather bringing about stiff shoulders.
B-type (Pacific-seaside Tohoku climate, including
III4 and III3): from late spring to early summer, northeasterly winds, called Yamase, with cold, foggy
weather cause rheumatism, gout, asthma and chronic

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IIFig. 4 (1) Bioclimatic divisions on the prefectural scale.

Fig. 4 (5) Percent experiencing that “When the weatherchanges, one suffers headaches.”

Fig. 4 (2) Percent experiencing that “When temperaturechanges abruptly, one suffers headaches ordizziness.”

Fig. 4 (6) Percent experiencing that “Cold weather
brings about stiff shoulders.”

Fig. 4 (3) Percent experiencing that “Old wounds begin
to hurt when bad weather continues.”

Fig. 4 (7) Percent experiencing that “When bad weather
continues, one becomes depressed.”

Fig. 4 (4) Percent experiencing that “When the weatherchanges, one suffers stiff finger joints.”

Fig. 4 (8) Percent experiencing that “Dry weather
causes itchiness.”Biometeorological Study on the Relationship between Weather and Chronic Disease63

II1, II2, etc.): cold, dry weather brings about influenza
and generalized itchiness all over the body. For instance, see Fig. 4(8) for the distribution of answers
that dry weather causes general itchiness and Fig. 6(5)for that of weather changes causing influenza.

bronchitis. For instance, see Fig. 4(2) for the distribution of answers that when temperature changes abruptly one suffers headaches and dizziness, Fig. 4(7) forthat of bad weather bringing continued depression,and Fig. 6(3) for that of weather changes bringing
about rheumatism.
C-type (Japan-Sea side climate of Western Japan,
including IV1 and IV2): featureless weather causes
hypertension, stiff finger joints, neuralgia, backaches,
chronic headaches and migraines. For instance, seeFig. 4(5) for the distribution of answers that when theweather changes one suffers headaches and Fig. 6(2)for that of weather changes bringing about hypertension.
D-type (Southwestern Japanese climate, including

We can conclude that the patterns of disease distribution are connected with certain bioclimatic divisions such as the A-type (Western Japan), B-type(Pacific-seaside Tohoku), C-type (Japan-Sea side ofWestern Japan) and D-type (Southwestern Japan).
It is clear that some old sayings about health andweather remain relevant even at the present time in

Fig. 5 90% of patients have experienced the effects ofweather change.

Fig. 6 (3) Percent experiencing weather effects onrheumatism.

Fig. 6 (1) Percent experiencing weather effects on angina
pectoris and cardiac infarction.

Fig. 6 (4) Percent experiencing weather effects on
asthma.

Fig. 6 (2) Percent experiencing weather effects on
hypertension.

Fig. 6 (5) Percent experiencing weather effects on
influenza.

5. Conclusion

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Y. FUKUOKA et al.

order to forecast weather for health; for example,“When the shoulders are stiff, it will become cold,”“When the whole body becomes itchy, it will becomedry,” “When one is depressed, bad weather will continue,” “When old wounds begin to hurt, bad weather
will continue,” and so on. However, these expressionsof the old sayings, that is, weather proverbs, are almost always in reverse order of the cause and effectrelationship. In other words, the proverb indicates thatvariations in body conditions (or chronic disease) predict weather changes.
It can be concluded that there is a definite relationship between weather changes and disease. Therefore,
we may be able to forecast the weather conditions
which cause diseases to some extent. The results ofthe questionnaire show that many persons including
patients expect information and weather forecastingfor health and disease in daily life.
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(Received 1 May 2007, Accepted 4 June 2007)