Migraine link to greater risk of heart attack and stroke
● Study reveals headaches should be considered ‘persistent’ factor
Migraine headaches are linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular problems including heart attacks, stroke and blood clots.
Although the absolute risks were low, the findings published in the British Medical Journal suggest that “migraine should be considered a potent and persistent risk factor for most cardiovascular diseases in both men and women”, say the authors.
Around one billion people worldwide are affected by migraine, with one in seven people in the UK suffering from the condition, which has a considerable impact on quality of life.
Previous studies have suggestedalinkbetweenmigraine and stroke and heart attacks, particularly among women, but the link between migraine and other heart problems are less well known.
In a bid to rectify this, researchers from Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark and Stanford University, USA, set out to examine the risks of heart conditions including heart attacks; stroke; peripheral artery disease, blood clots and fast and irregular heart rates in people who experience migraines compared with people who don’t.
The researchers collected patient data from the Danish National Patient Registry over a 19 year period, from 1995 to 2013. They compared data from over 51,000 people
0 Migraine affects around one billion people across the world who had been diagnosed with migraine with over 510,000 people who were migraine free.
For each person with migraine, they matched ten people of the same age and gender who were migraine free. The average age for migraine diagnosis was 35 years, and 71 per cent of participants were women.
Overthe19years,researchers found that migraine was positively associated with heart attack, stroke, blood clots and irregular heart rate. For example, for every 1,000 patients, 25 patients with migraine had a heart attack compared with 17 migraine free patients and 45 patients with migraine had an ischaemic stroke (blood clot in the brain) compared with 25 migraine free patients.
The authors outline reasons why migraine might increase cardiovascular disease risk.
For example, people with migraine often use antiinflammatory drugs, which are associated with increased risks of heart problems.
The authors said: “Migraine should be considered a potent and persistent risk factor for most cardiovascular diseases.
“Ultimately, it will be important to determine whether prevention strategies in patients with migraine can reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease.”