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A new study that looked at well-known cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as diabetes, smoking, obesity and high cholesterol, found that only female participants with higher diastolic blood pressure were more likely to suffer from migraines.
A new study published online in the journal Neurology shows that high blood pressure, especially high diastolic blood pressure, was associated with a slightly higher likelihood of migraines in female participants. However, the study did not find an increased risk between other cardiovascular risk factors and migraines. “Previous studies have shown that migraines are associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, and myocardial infarction (heart attack), but less is known about the relationship between risk factors for cardiovascular events and migraines,” the authors said. Antoinette Maassen van den Brink of Erasmus Medical Center, University of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, led the study in a press release from the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), News.ro reported. How did the study go? The study involved 7,266 men and women with an average age of 67, 15% of whom suffered from migraines.
All participants underwent a physical exam and provided a blood sample. They were also asked questions about migraines, including whether they had ever had a headache with severe pain that interfered with their daily activities. After adjusting for multiple cardiovascular risk factors, such as physical activity and education level, the researchers found that for every one standard deviation increase in diastolic blood pressure, female participants with higher diastolic blood pressure were 16% more likely to have a migraine.
Each standard deviation increase is a measure that compares diastolic blood pressure with other cardiovascular risk factors. No association was found with systolic blood pressure. The experts said this confirms that migraine is associated with a slight decrease in small blood vessel function, rather than with a decrease in large blood vessel function. There was no association among female participants with high cholesterol or obesity, current smoking was associated with a 28% lower incidence of migraine, and diabetes was associated with a 26% lower incidence of migraine. “These results should be interpreted with caution, as they do not prove that smoking reduces the risk of migraine. On the contrary, smoking may trigger migraine attacks, so people who choose to smoke are less likely to have migraines,” said Maassen van den Brink. For male participants, the researchers found no association between cardiovascular risk factors and migraine. Conclusion “Our study shows that, in general, migraine is not directly related to traditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease,” Maassen van den Brink concluded. “Since we analyzed middle-aged and elderly people, future studies with longer follow-up in younger groups are needed,” she added. One limitation of the study was the small number of male participants with migraine. Maassen van den Brink said this could explain why no association between cardiovascular risk factors and migraine was found in male participants.
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