I don't know about you, but sometimes the weather gives me whiplash.

It just feels totally unpredictable.

Well, maybe not to some people.

My grandmother, she would say that she could predict the weather, that if it was going

to be colder or damper, her arthritis would be more severe.

She would be able to do less activities, and it was a very clear connection for her

that was never questioned.

That's Dr. Robert Schmerling.

She's the former clinical chief of the rheumatology division at Beth Israel Deaconis Medical Center

in Boston.

Rheumatology is the study of rheumatic diseases, which broadly characterized our inflammatory

conditions, especially ones that affect the joints, as well as other joint diseases and

other inflammatory conditions that affect other parts of the body.

Rob's retired now and currently writes for Harvard Health Publishing and Arm of the Medical

School.

We reached out to him because I've been thinking a lot about this popular notion that weather

can affect joint pain.

As rheumatologists, Rob's had tons of relevant experience with a practice spanning more than

30 years, and there's a lot to get a handle on.

First of all, there are more than 100 kinds of arthritis, a couple of which you've definitely

heard of.

Well, far and away, the most common cause of joint pain that we can at least link to a

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