The impact of air pressure on people’s mood

Barometric pressure is particularly closely related to human health. The impact of air pressure on the human body can be summarized into two aspects: physiological impact and psychological impact. The impact of air pressure on human physiology mainly affects the supply of oxygen in the human body. People need about 750 mg of oxygen every day, 20% of which is used by the brain.

When the natural air pressure drops, the oxygen partial pressure in the atmosphere, the oxygen partial pressure in the alveoli, and the arterial blood oxygen saturation all drop accordingly, causing a series of physiological reactions in the human body, such as climbing from lowlands to mountains. For example, due to a drop in air pressure, the body speeds up breathing and blood circulation to compensate for the lack of oxygen, resulting in shortness of breath and accelerated heart rate. Due to the lack of oxygen in the human body (especially the brain), symptoms such as dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue may also occur. , severe cases may even cause pulmonary edema and coma. Air pressure can also affect people's psychological changes, mainly causing people to feel depressed.

For example, rainy and snowy weather under low air pressure, as well as high temperature, high humidity and muggy weather before thunderstorms in summer, often make people depressed and uncomfortable. When a person is depressed, the autonomic nerves (i.e. autonomic nerves) tend to be tense and release adrenaline, leading to increased blood pressure, accelerated heartbeat, and shortness of breath. At the same time, cortisol is decomposed, causing increased gastric acid secretion, prone to blood vessel infarction, and sharp rise in blood sugar levels. Recent medical meteorology research has also pointed out that low air pressure can cause heart attacks, and strokes are also related to changes in air pressure. Increased air pressure can trigger an increase in the incidence of stroke.

Contributed by the Municipal Professional Meteorological Observatory