Baric Mountain: what is the danger of an abnormal rise in atmospheric pressure?

What atmospheric pressure is considered normal for humans?

Atmospheric pressure is the weight of air that presses on the human body. On average, this is 1.033 kg per 1 cubic cm. That is, 10-15 tons of gas control our mass every minute.

The standard atmospheric pressure is 760 mmHg or 1013.25 mbar. Conditions in which the human body feels comfortable or adapted. In fact, an ideal weather indicator for any inhabitant of the Earth. In reality, everything is not like that.

Atmospheric pressure is not stable. Its changes are daily and depend on the weather, terrain, sea level, climate and even time of day. The vibrations are not noticeable to humans. For example, at night the mercury rises 1-2 notches higher. Minor changes do not affect the well-being of a healthy person. Changes of 5-10 or more units are painful, and sudden significant jumps are fatal. For comparison: loss of consciousness from altitude sickness occurs when pressure drops by 30 units. That is, at a level of 1000 m above the sea.

The continent and even an individual country can be divided into conventional areas with different average pressure levels. Therefore, the optimal atmospheric pressure for each person is determined by the region of permanent residence.

An example of the distribution of atmospheric pressure over Russia in January

The flexible human body has the potential to adapt to unfamiliar natural conditions. The notorious resort acclimatization is an example of this. It happens when restructuring is impossible. So the inhabitants of the mountains suffer from poor health in the lowlands, no matter how long they stay there.

Doctors confirm the theory that the appropriate level of pressure is measured not by numbers, but by individual well-being. And yet the optimal value for the average person is within 750-765 mm.

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Preparing for weather records

Sudden changes in temperature and atmospheric pressure will negatively affect the human body. Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Gerontology and Geriatrics of the FPDO MGMSU Yuri Konev reminded “360” that, first of all, weather-sensitive people suffer from record indicators and react to both high and low blood pressure.

The reaction may be the same. First of all, it is a headache, dizziness, blood pressure can rise and fall. This depends on the person’s blood vessels, which may react differently. <…> With such symptoms, a person may lose balance and even consciousness

Yuri Konev.

During such periods, people of the older age group are at risk. Konev explained this by saying that weather sensitivity increases over the years. Pressure changes will also affect people with unstable blood pressure, hypertensive and hypotensive patients, therapist Natalya Urazova told 360.

But you can prepare your body for sudden changes in pressure. According to Konev, weather-sensitive people can consult with a doctor and adjust the drug therapy they take to cope with weather events and reduce the risk of adverse events.

“Of course, we need to adjust the work and rest schedule, slightly reduce both physical and emotional stress. Get enough sleep, stay hydrated,” the doctor added.

During such periods of record atmospheric pressure, you should definitely abstain from alcohol. This is because the vascular response to alcohol can be unpredictable. According to Natalya Urazova, other habits will have to change.

“During such a period, you need to lead a healthy lifestyle, stop smoking and foods with salt, and also eat right,” the therapist added.

Atmospheric pressure standards in different regions

Each region of Russia has developed an individual level of pressure. In Moscow, ideal 760 mm practically does not exist. The average value is 747-749 units. For Muscovites, the increase to 755 mm is not noticeable. The values ​​above sometimes affect your well-being. Moscow is located on a hill, so pressure above average is a priori impossible. In the Moscow region, the divisions are even lower: the territory is located above the capital.

Table “Normal atmospheric pressure for Russian cities”

In Donetsk, the atmospheric pressure also differs from the region. In the city the average is 744-745 mm, and in settlements closer to sea level - 749-750.

Why is weather sensitivity dangerous?

Weather sensitivity is not such a harmless disorder as one might assume. Under the influence of the vagaries of the weather, different systems of the body suffer.

Immunity. Frequent changes in climatic conditions lead to the fact that the immune system is depleted, as it works in enhanced mode for a long time. As a result, a person gets sick easier and more often.

The cardiovascular system. Sudden changes in weather conditions cause the release of stress hormones, which provoke blood thickening, which creates additional risks for people with cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and vegetative-vascular dystonia. Therefore, people at risk should take blood thinners on the day the weather changes and a day earlier (but only as prescribed by a doctor).

Endocrine system. A sudden change in weather is stressful for the entire body, including the endocrine system. In particular, as for the pancreas, an unstable weather situation is one of the reasons for its depletion, and, therefore, a disruption in insulin production. The result is increased blood sugar and a tendency to develop diabetes. That is why, in adverse weather conditions, it is advisable for even healthy people to control their blood sugar levels. And people with diabetes must do this.

What effect does atmospheric pressure have on humans?

Atmospheric and blood pressure are interrelated. A decrease in mbar (cloudy, rainy weather) affects the body:

• lowering blood pressure;
• drowsiness and apathy;
• decreased heart rate;
• difficulty breathing;
• rapid fatigue;
• dizziness and pain;
• nausea;
• problems with the gastrointestinal tract;
• migraine.

Feeling drowsy during rainy weather

People with depressed respiratory functions are also at risk for hypotension. Their health on such days is characterized by aggravated symptoms and attacks. Cases of hypotensive crisis are becoming more frequent.

Increased air pressure (clear, dry, windless and warm weather) brings depressed health to hypertensive patients. The symptoms are opposite:

• increased blood pressure;
• increased heart rate;
• facial redness;
• headache;
• noise in ears;
• dizziness;
• pulsation in temples;
• “flies” before the eyes;
• nausea.

High air pressure has a negative effect on hypertensive patients

Such weather conditions are generous for strokes and heart attacks.

Important! For people who are vulnerable to the vagaries of nature, doctors advise on such days to stay outside the active work zone and deal with the consequences of weather dependence.

Meteopathological syndromes

In recent decades, many studies have been conducted with the participation of people with increased weather sensitivity. This allowed specialists to identify some typical symptoms of dependence on the weather situation. Researchers call them meteorological syndromes or symptom complexes. In different people, the syndromes can appear either individually or in combination with other symptoms.

Today, patients most often experience the following meteopathological symptom complexes:

• rheumatoid (fatigue, general weakness and fatigue, various inflammatory reactions, pain);
• cerebral (irritability, general excitability, headaches, sleep disturbance, respiratory dysfunction);
• vegetative-vascular (blood pressure surges, autonomic disorders);
• cardiorespiratory (cough, increased respiratory rate, increased heart rate);
• dyspeptic (unpleasant sensations in the stomach, intestines and/or under the right ribs, nausea, lack of appetite, stool disturbance);
• immunological (impaired protective reactions of the body, tendency to colds and fungal diseases);
• skin-allergic (skin rashes, itching and other reactions typical of allergies);
• hemorrhagic (bleeding rashes on the skin, bleeding of mucous membranes, rushes of blood to the head, nosebleeds, increased blood supply to the conjunctiva, changes in the blood formula).

Sometimes, if the body’s reactions to certain meteorological factors are very pronounced and are repeated quite often, they speak of the development of a general adaptation-meteotropic syndrome. In this case, the balance of the whole organism is disturbed. Problems arise in the field of metabolism and energy metabolism, enzymatic activity, tissue structure and blood formula change.

Meteor dependence what to do?

The movement of mercury by more than one division in 3 hours is a reason for stress in the strong body of a healthy person. Each of us feels such fluctuations in the form of headaches, drowsiness, and fatigue. More than a third of people suffer from weather dependence to varying degrees of severity. In the zone of high sensitivity are populations with diseases of the cardiovascular, nervous and respiratory systems, and elderly people. How to help yourself if a dangerous cyclone is approaching?

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Weather sensitivity in adults and children: who is at risk

During evolution, the human body has learned to adapt to changes in weather conditions. If the weather situation changes evenly and insignificantly, healthy people, as a rule, do not notice it. Persons suffering from chronic diseases are a different matter. In this case, in response to changes in weather conditions, a person may experience a pathological (meteotropic) reaction. By the way, if earlier experts believed that mainly older people suffered from weather sensitivity, in recent years they have recorded a significant “rejuvenation” of the disorder. This is associated with acceleration (accelerated development of the body) of modern people. In addition, some researchers suggest that this disorder may be hereditary, and it is also worth remembering the meteosensitivity of infants.

As observations show, the level of manifestation of meteosensitivity depends on various factors:

• age and gender of the person;
• form and stage of the disease (chronic);
• type of nervous system;
• level of adaptive capabilities of the body.

It is known that residents of different climatic zones may have their own characteristics and manifest themselves in different ways. A weather-sensitive person does not necessarily react to all the vagaries of nature (changes in atmospheric pressure, magnetic storms, humidity, etc.); only one of the factors can cause deterioration in well-being, while others go unnoticed by the body.

Recently, researchers have become seriously interested in the impact of meteorological factors on human sensory organs (vision, hearing). It turned out that visual weather patterns (clouds, rain, rainbows, etc.) can influence the external behavior (actions, speech) of a weather-sensitive person. While auditory meteorological images cause changes in internal behavior (thinking, motivation, imagination, faith). Interestingly, a person can perceive weather sounds at a distance of more than 50 km from the source.

Anticyclone

An anticyclone is not only the opposite of a cyclone. This phenomenon has a different mechanism of occurrence. The wind in both hemispheres of the Earth moves in the opposite direction compared to the cyclone.

Anticyclone

An anticyclone is an area of ​​high pressure. It is characterized by closed isobars - these are lines that mark places with the same atmospheric pressure.

An anticyclone brings stable weather conditions corresponding to the time of year. In summer it is windless, hot weather, in winter it is frosty. Characterized by few or no clouds.

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Anticyclones form in certain areas. For example, most often they occur over large bodies of ice: in Antarctica, Greenland, and the Arctic. Also found in the tropics.

Anticyclones also carry danger and unpleasant consequences. They can contribute to fires and prolonged droughts. When there is no wind for a long time in large cities, harmful substances and gases accumulate, which is especially acute for people with respiratory diseases.

Difference between cyclone and anticyclone

Interesting fact : there are blocking cyclones that form over a certain area and do not move anywhere. At the same time, they do not allow other air masses to pass through. Usually they last no longer than 5 days, but regularly in the European part of Russia anticyclones last for about a month. The last time this happened was in 2015. The result is heat, drought, forest fires.

How does atmospheric pressure affect the weather?

The distribution of atmospheric pressure across the Earth is uneven. This is due to the movement of air and its ability to create so-called pressure vortices.

In the northern hemisphere, clockwise air rotation leads to the formation of downward air currents (anticyclones). They bring clear or partly cloudy weather with a complete absence of rain and wind to a specific area.

But if the air rotates counterclockwise, then rising vortices are formed above the ground. They are characteristic of cyclones, with heavy precipitation, heavy winds, and thunderstorms. By the way, in the southern hemisphere, cyclones move clockwise, anticyclones move counterclockwise.

Why and due to what is atmospheric pressure created?

Specialists who study the Earth's atmosphere and various meteorological phenomena carefully monitor how air masses move. This is the main factor influencing the climatic conditions of a particular area. These observations made it possible to understand why atmospheric pressure arises.

It's all because of gravity.
Through many experiments it has been proven that air is by no means weightless. It consists of various gases that have a certain weight. Thus, the force of gravity of the Earth acts on the air, which contributes to the formation of pressure. Interesting fact : all the air on the planet (or the entire atmosphere of the Earth) weighs 51 x 1014 tons.
The air mass around the globe is not the same. The level of atmospheric pressure fluctuates accordingly. Areas with more air mass experience higher pressure. If there is less air (it is also called rarefied in such cases), then the pressure is lower.

Movement Sun

Why does the weight of the atmosphere change? The secret of this phenomenon lies in the heating of air masses. The fact is that the heating of the air does not occur at all from the sun's rays, but due to the earth's surface.

Near it, the air heats up and, becoming lighter, rises. At this time, the cooled flows become heavier and fall down. This process occurs continuously. Each air flow has its own pressure, and its difference causes wind.

How does the composition of the atmosphere affect pressure?

The atmosphere contains a huge amount of gases. These are mainly nitrogen and oxygen (98%). There is also carbon dioxide, neon, argon, etc. The atmosphere begins with a boundary layer 1-2 km thick and ends with the exosphere at an altitude of about 10,000 km, where it smoothly passes into interplanetary space.

Atmospheric composition

The composition of the atmosphere affects pressure due to density. Each component has its own density. The higher the altitude, the thinner the layer of the atmosphere and the lower its density. The pressure decreases accordingly.