Do you feel better in thee Spring & Summer?
 

Canadians hate winter, and it's all we got
 

Far better. Spring and summer far better.
Quebec winter, some nights at minus 35; gets dark at 4 p.m.; as soon as i am cold it sets off intense shivering. And just in general, the symptoms are worse and the depressions blacker in winter.
Any infection, such as the 'flu, hits like a freight train. The roads and steps and sidewalks are often covered in ice - fear of falling. By mid-winter I hardly leave the house. This is when Quebec Cabin Fever sets in, and we start wildly swinging our chain saws at shadows - no, that is an exaggeration, but you get the idea.

The article about the placebo effect and the immune system either hiding behind a rock or coming out to fight like Rocky - I may perchance be hallucinating in my inner hollywood, but i swear i have felt that happen in me and I swear i have triggered immune responses deliberately by cranking myself up to fight rather than flee. But as the man says, fire off too much heavy ammo early in the season, and smoke will be coming out of your ears before spring/

One of the highest incidences of Parkinson's in North America is among the Inuit in Arctic Canada - some that i have talked to have 3 months of darkness in a climate where iron shatters from the cold and gasoline freezes into a solid block - 3 months when the sun does not rise above the horizon... but the upside is: when spring finally comes, and 3 months of daylight day and night, and everybody takes off layers of clothing and goes outside and you serve fresh Arctic char on the shores of Ungava Bay in broad daylight at 2 a.m., with native people who have been fishing there for 5,000 years.... you got yourself a deal. I am willing to live that.

It is interesting you mention the lack of sunlight. There is an interesting study linking PD to Circadian Rhythms, so I wonder if that harsh resetting of their internal clock may have something to do with it rather than the cold?

There is some clinical support of the circadian theory through a four year study. Inhibiting melatonin production through light therapy for an hour a day resulted in improved PD symptoms and it seems to halt progression. I am not sure how that it all works together but it looks like the pineal gland is now being looked at in a range of diseases.

Laura

BTW I actually feel worse in heat and humidty; the higher the air pressure the worse I feel.