Migraine link to stroke

Wednesday October 28th, 2009

A serious kind of migraine is linked to a big increase in risk of having a stroke, researchers warned today.

The link is with migraine with aura - which happens when a headache comes with strange sensations, often including strange lights.

Researchers said young women who suffer from this kind of migraine should take steps to cut their risk by avoiding tobacco or contraceptives containing the hormone oestrogen.

Researchers from Harvard Medical School, USA, analysed some 25 earlier studies of migraine to reach their conclusions, published by the British Medical Journal.

Experts said that for most people with migraine the increased risk of having a stroke was still quite small.

But the British Heart Foundation said the findings emphasised the need for young women who suffer from migraine with aura not to aggravate their risk of having stroke.

Cardiac nurse Ellen Mason, of the BHF, said: "This review clarifies that it is only migraine with aura - a migraine with temporary visual and sensory disturbances that is linked to increased risk of having a stroke.

"Women under 45 are most at risk - and their risk of stroke is doubled when suffering from migraine with aura. Although women of this age are considered to be at low risk of stroke, this risk may ?increase if they are on oral contraceptives containing oestrogens, or they smoke."

Writing in the journal, headache specialist Elizabeth Loder, also of Harvard Medical School, says that findings should trigger further research as migraine is so common - affecting up to 20 per cent of people.

She writes: "The absolute risk of stroke for most migraine patients is low, so a doubling of risk is not cause for panic."

* Meanwhile US researchers have reported success in using surgery to treat migraine.

Plastic surgeons in Cleveland, Ohio, say they have developed treatments by removing muscles and nerves on the outside of the skull.

They have reported on treatment of some 79 patients at a conference of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons in Seattle, Washington, USA.

Some 20 patients reported being free of migraine after surgery and another 41 reported significant improvements.

Surgeon Bahman Guyuron, of University Hospitals Case Medical Center, said: "Migraine headaches are extremely disabling and this surgical option offers hope for migraine sufferers."

British Medical Journal, October 2009. BMJ 2009;339:b3914 doi:10.1136/bmj.b3914

Tags: Heart Health | North America | Pain Relief | UK News | Women’s Health & Gynaecology

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