Migraines Linked to Heart Disease?
Reported February 12, 2010
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — People with migraine may be at increased risk of heart attack and other heart disease.
While the overall risk of heart problems in people with migraine is small, these findings are consistent with other studies showing people with migraine are more likely to suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, which are risk factors for heart disease,” study author Marcelo E. Bigal, M.D., Ph.D., with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, N.Y., was quoted as saying.
Bigal and colleagues studied 6,102 people with migraine and 5,243 people without migraine. Participants answered questions about headaches, treatment, general health and any diagnosed heart problems.
The study found that people who had migraines were about twice as likely to have a heart attack compared to people without migraines. The risk was nearly three times greater for people who experienced migraine with aura — sensations that precede the migraine headache, such as seeing flashing lights.
The study also found that people with migraine with aura were one and half times more likely to have diabetes and high cholesterol than people without migraine.
Bigal concluded, “Our results provide another reason for people with migraine to reduce other risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure and obesity.”
SOURCE: Neurology online, February 10, 2010