In addition to sensitivity to light and noise, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and visual disturbances, those who suffer from migraine attacks may have another, more serious, side effect to worry about: An increased risk for cardiovascular disease.
A study, which involved nearly 6000 participants provided a cardiovascular risk profile of those who suffer from migraine attacks and those who suffer from migraine with aura–referring to a visual or other form of hallucination prior to a migraine attack. One-third of the participants who suffered from migraines experienced aura symptoms before a headache arose.
The Study Results
People with migraines, particularly those with aura, may be more likely to present risk factors associated with cardiovascular conditions. In fact, it has been found that migraine with aura increases the risk of stroke before the age of 45; however, the reason for this statistic is not yet known. Findings showed:
- Those with migraine were 43 percent more likely to be smokers, though less likely to consume alcohol
- Those with migraine with aura symptoms were 43 percent more likely to suffer from high cholesterol; they were also 76 percent more likely to suffer from high blood pressure
- People with migraine with aura were more likely to report a history of either stroke or heart disease before the age of 45
The Gender Role
Women with migraine were twice as likely to be using oral contraceptives; they were also more likely to report a history of high blood pressure during pregnancy than those without migraine.
Men with migraine, on the other hand, were almost twice as likely to have a father with a history of heart attack–though both men and women with migraine overall were nearly two times more likely to have a mother with a history of early heart attack.
http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/64/4/614
Neurology. 2005 Feb 22;64(4):614-20.
Cardiovascular risk factors and migraine: the GEM population-based study.
Scher AI, Terwindt GM, Picavet HS, Verschuren WM, Ferrari MD, Launer LJ.
Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography, and Biometry, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. ascher@usuhs.mil
BACKGROUND: Migraine, particularly with aura, is a risk factor for early-onset ischemic stroke. The underlying mechanisms are unknown, but may in part be due to migraineurs having an increased risk profile for cardiovascular disease. In this study, the authors compare the cardiovascular risk profile of adult migraineurs to that of nonmigraineurs. METHODS: Participants (n = 5,755, 48% men, age 20 to 65 years) are from the Genetic Epidemiology of Migraine (GEM) study, a population-based study in the Netherlands. A total of 620 current migraineurs were identified: 31% with aura (MA), 64% without aura (MO), and 5% unclassified. Controls were 5,135 individuals without lifetime migraine. Measured cardiovascular risk factors included blood pressure (BP), serum total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TC, HDL), smoking, oral contraceptive use, and the Framingham risk score for myocardial infarction or coronary heart disease (CHD) death. RESULTS: Compared to controls, migraineurs were more likely to smoke (OR = 1.43 [1.1 to 1.8]), less likely to consume alcohol (OR = 0.58 [0.5 to 0.7]), and more likely to report a parental history of early myocardial infarction. Migraineurs with aura were more likely to have an unfavorable cholesterol profile (TC > or = 240 mg/dL [OR = 1.43 (0.97 to 2.1)], TC:HDL ratio > 5.0 [OR = 1.64 (1.1 to 2.4)]), have elevated BP (systolic BP > 140 mm Hg or diastolic BP > 90 mm Hg [OR = 1.76 (1.04 to 3.0)]), and report a history of early onset CHD or stroke (OR = 3.96 [1.1 to 14.3]); female migraineurs with aura were more likely to be using oral contraceptives (OR = 2.06 [1.05 to 4.0]). The odds of having an elevated Framingham risk score for CHD were approximately doubled for the migraineurs with aura. CONCLUSIONS: Migraineurs, particularly with aura, have a higher cardiovascular risk profile than individuals without migraine. PMID: 15728281 [PubMed – in process]