The link between migraine and heart disease may not be genetic, a new US study has revealed.
A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University found that although migraine without aura and heart disease did share some genetic variations, those shared genes actually protected against heart disease.
The researchers admitted they were surprised by the results of the study, which is published in the inaugural issue of Neurology® Genetics.
“When we looked for shared gene variants that might help explain part of the link between migraine and heart disease, we found no shared gene variations between migraine with aura and heart disease,” said study author Dr Aarno Palotie, of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
“This is surprising because the evidence is stronger that people with migraine with aura have an increased risk of heart disease than people with migraine without aura.”
For the study, the research team analysed two large genome-wide association studies of migraine and heart disease. The migraine study involved 19,981 people with migraine and 56,667 people without, while the heart disease study involved 21,076 people with heart disease and 63,014 people who did not have heart disease.
Both identified genetic variations that increase the risk for these two diseases and the researchers for this study used four methods to analyse the results to look for shared genetic variants that overlap between the two diseases.
Dr Anne Ducros, of the University of Montpellier in Montpellier, France, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study, said it appeared that people who suffer migraine without aura have a lower load of genetic factors increasing the risk of heart disease.
“We now need to understand why people with migraine who are born with a protective or neutral genetic risk for heart disease end up with an increased risk for heart problems,” she added.
She said that other genetic factors not identified by the studies might well link migraine and heart disease, as could non-genetic factors.
“For example, migraine has been associated with obesity, avoidance of exercise, smoking and depression, all of which increase the risk of heart disease,” she added.
Neurology 2 July 2015 [abstract]
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