Many people with chronic headaches believe that weather changes trigger their woes.

    Turns out they may be right, suggest new research findings.

    In a study of 25 children and teenagers with migraines or chronic tension-type headaches, researchers found that symptoms tended to flare up on days when it rained or when humidity was higher than normal.

    Overall, study participants were nearly three times more likely to have a headache when it was raining or humidity was higher than average, compared with drier conditions, according to findings published in the journal Headache.

    People who suffer migraines or other types of debilitating headaches commonly cite weather changes as one of the triggers. But studies on the matter have come to conflicting conclusions.

    For the current study, researchers gave children handheld computers to record their headache symptoms in "real time" over two weeks. They then compared that information with weather data the researchers gathered using weather-tracking software.

    This is an improvement over most past studies, which have used less- precise methods, according to the researchers, led by Dr. Mark Connelly of Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Mo.

    Overall, the researchers found that during periods of rain, kids in their study had a 59% probability of reporting headache symptoms. That compared with a 21% probability at rain-free times.

    Similarly, the odds of headache symptoms were 58% when humidity was higher than average -- versus 22% when humidity levels were average.

    Exactly why rain and humidity would trigger headaches in some children is not clear. Nor do the findings necessarily mean that other weather variables are unimportant.

    One recent study of 7,000 patients with severe migraine or non-migraine headaches found that the risk of symptoms climbed on days when the temperature rose or barometric pressure dropped.

    Low barometric pressure generally means cloudy skies and storms; in the current study, however, there was no specific link between headache symptoms and barometric pressure changes.

    More research is needed to understand how weather variables may affect people's headache symptoms, according to Connelly and his colleagues.

    It also remains to be seen how such knowledge could be practically useful for patients, the researchers conclude.

    许多头痛病患者认为天气变化是致病元凶。

    新的研究成果显示事实可能的确如此。

    在对25名患有偏头痛和慢性紧张型头痛的儿童和青少年进行的一项调查中，研究人员发现雨天或湿度大于平常的日子里，头痛症状会加剧。

    《头痛》杂志上发布的研究结果表明，整体而言，参与实验者在雨天或湿度大于平常的日子里头痛发作是干燥天气下的三倍。

    偏头痛患者或其他类型头痛病患者通常都认为天气变化是诱因之一，但是有关于此的研究却有着相冲突的结论。

    就当前进行的研究而言，研究人员让孩子们在两周之内通过电脑实时记录自己的头痛症状。然后将结果与研究人员以天气追踪软件收集到的数据加以比较。

    密苏里州堪萨斯儿童福利医院的Mark Connelly博士领导的研究小组成员说这种方法较之以前大有改进，之前的研究方法相比之下不够精确。

    研究人员发现参与实验的孩子在雨天反映有头痛症状的占59%,而不下雨时这一比例仅为21%.

    与此类似的是在湿度大于平时的天气头痛发作比例为58%,而湿度为平均水平时这一比例为22%.

    雨天和潮湿天气引发部分儿童头痛的具体原因尚不明了。这些研究结果也并非意味着其他气候变化就不重要。

    一项对患有严重偏头痛或其他头痛病患者的近期研究显示，温度上升或气压下降时这些头痛症状的发生随之攀升。

    低气压通常意味着多云和风暴；然而当前研究表明头痛症状与气压变化并没有明显关联。

    Connelly和其同事说要弄清楚天气变化如何影响人们头痛发作还需作进一步研究。

    研究人员的结论是，如何将上述研究结果实际运用于患者还有待了解。