In general, people operate as if we are at the mercy of weather and environmental factors; that these factors have little if any consequential impact on our health, wellness, and comfort; and, that we don’t have the capacity to prevent the negative health outcomes associated with their causal effects. This is not true, but we’ve been trained to accept the environment that operates around us, not be prepared for the unintended consequences of the weather, the environment, and our surroundings.

The health conditions that are clearly impacted by weather and environmental exposures, in the greatest preponderance, and create the greatest burden are respiratory conditions; including allergies, asthma, and COPD. The weather and the environment can trigger flare-ups which often lead to negative health outcomes for respiratory patients. People with respiratory issues are confronting breathing difficulties daily and without proper attention these attacks often lead to negative health outcomes in the form of emergent care visits, inpatient hospital stays, and even, in some cases, death.

90% of children and 60% of adults with asthma have allergies. 60% of those do not know their specific allergies, and if a pollen allergy is known, very often it is not known which predominant pollen type is the allergen that triggers their allergies. It’s natural for us to presume that only air quality and pollen are the determinants in our environment that impact respiratory patients, but, in fact, other weather conditions worsen the risk of breathing difficulties for them.

When, where, under what conditions, and how often do flare-ups occur? Well, when it comes to the impacts of weather and environmental exposures, “we don’t know, what we don’t know.” With the advent of big data, AI, mobile technology and wearable sensors, answering questions with empirical evidence of the when, where and under what conditions respiratory patients have flare-ups is within reach.