the Laughing Boomer

Want to live longer? Well, when you consider what extreme weather, both good and bad, can do for your health, you may decide to exit your home town, pronto, and move to a friendly climate.

First of all, cold weather brings on all sorts of aches and pains that should send you running for the next plane, if your arthritis does not prevent it. "Cold damp days mean aching bones and joints for arthritis suffers", says Environment Canada's EnviroZine. So does rising humidity, rapidly falling barometric pressure and gusty winds, says Intellicast. My Doctor tells me that almost every person over forty years old has some degree of arthritis.

Who would have thought that changes in barometric pressure could cause so much havoc? EnviroZine states that rates of heart attacks increase with changes in air masses. This article also notes that blood pressure changes with outside temperatures, as does the blood clot rate.

Besides being hard on your health, cold weather restricts your interaction with the environment. If you did not need to, you would probably not choose to trudge through dirty snow or slippery ice-covered roads on a daily basis for much of the winter. Icy pathways can be dangerous and rainy climates chill to the bone. So, unless you are skiing, the weather restricts you to indoor exercise, or sometimes, no exercise if you cannot make it to the gym. Rain and wind make walking unpleasant for many.

Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, is triggered by long grey sunless days and lack of bright light. Light affects brain chemistry and sufferers feel depressed and listless when they do not get enough sun. Some inhabitants of the west coast rain forest say can feel moss growing on their backs. Rain is the major topic of conversation and many do feel depressed.

According to Intellicast, "bright sunshine, light winds, comfortable (slightly below normal) temperatures and low humidity and high pressure give the greatest positive boost to our moods." However, when the Chinook or Santa Ana winds blow, moods can turn sour because of the hot, dry winds.

Extreme hot weather also brings challenges. Air pollution in crowded urban cities goes through the roof on hot days as a thick yellow haze sits on the horizon. Respiratory conditions such as emphysema and bronchial asthma become worse and radios announce that the sick and the elderly should stay indoors. Extreme heat can cause heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

Too much humidity, of both the warm or cold variety can also be challenging for those with lung congestion. Add to this mix the rash of allergy sufferers who, because of pollen or mold spores endure months of runny noses, red eyes and sneezing during various times of the year. It is hard for many to stay well because of climate.

Proof exists that a moderate climate is best for health. Intellicast.com states that, "the pain and weather relationship has been established beyond reasonable doubt from controlled studies." The Germans coined a word for it Biometeorology, and their meteorological service offers information to the medical community on a daily basis of which ailments might show exacerbated symptoms because of the weather.

What to do, what to do?

Dr Warren Bland, a geographer who wrote the book Retire in Style: 50 Affordable Places across America, notes that most people do best in a temperate climate, somewhere around the mid-seventies Fahrenheit or around twenty degrees Celsius. If you are considering a move in retirement, look at the weather charts as a major factor in your decision. It might be that you need or want two homes, so you can enjoy reasonable temperatures all year round.

Depending on their latitude, be aware that properties near oceans or lakes can have temperatures considerably hotter or colder. Constant sea breezes are wonderful in warm climates and bone-numbing in cold. From the extremes of being too cold, the summers in many tropical countries are unbearable by the coast because of the high humidity, but lovely in the highlands. This is why many people move to higher inland cities in Mexico or Panama.

Because you are not being subjected to temperature extremes, a pleasant climate encourages an active outdoor lifestyle. If one of your retirement goals is to become active, consider your climate. If it is easy and pleasant to be outdoors for several hours each day you will do it. Spending your days walking, bicycling, breathing fresh air and enjoying the sun will permeate your body and soul with a wonderful sense of well being.

While I did meet one individual who wants to move to Whitehorse, far north in the Yukon Territories, when he retires, most of us savor warmth. It makes your body shine. La belle vita!

Mahara Sinclaire, M.Ed.
© Mahara Sinclaire, 2007
mahara@laughingboomer.com
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Mahara Sinclaire, M. Ed., the Boomer Expert, is the author of the book The Laughing Boomer, due out in 2007 and the Laughing Boomer Workbook: Retire from Work, Gear up for Living. She has presented hundreds of workshops on a variety of topics, writes syndicated columns and presents workshops on retirement planning. Mahara is known for inspiring clients to move forward with their lives. She can be reached by telephone at 604 324 1054, mahara@laughingboomer.com or www.laughingboomer.com.