Migraines can be debilitating: Know its association with some health conditions

Migraines can make the strongest person squirm in agony. This is not life-threatening but, sometimes, it can be linked to underlying health conditions.

By: Jahnavi Sarma | Edited by: Jahnavi Sarma | | Updated: August 9, 2019 7:54 pm

A migraine is a kind of headache that can cause severe throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation on the head. ©Shutterstock

According to the World Health Organisation, most people experience headaches at some point in their life. In fact, it is more common that the cold and flu. While they can be sometimes painful and debilitating, the majority can be treated with simple painkillers. However, repeated attacks or certain types of headache could be a sign of something more serious. A migraine is a kind of headache that can cause severe throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation on the head. You may also experience nausea, vomiting and extreme sensitivity to light and sound during a migraine episode. It can last for hours to days.

Now, researchers at CNRS, Université Côte d’Azur and Inserm have demonstrated a new genetic mechanism related to the onset of migraine. In fact, they found how a mutation causes dysfunction in a protein that inhibits neuronal electrical activity and induces migraines. These results, published in Neuron, open a new path for the development of anti-migraine medicines.

TRIGGERS OF MIGRAINE

Migraines are debilitating and it can come suddenly without any warning. It is also common in people suffering from depression and epilepsy. Triggers are usually different for different people. For some it can be stress and anxiety and for others sleep disruption can act as a trigger. Hormonal changes, dehydration, bright lights and loud noises can also act as triggers. Other than this, skipped meals and certain foods and medications can cause it.

WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR

But, if you experience severe and persistent or recurrent headaches, you must consult a doctor. It could indicate some serious health disorder. Watch out for severe and sudden, headaches accompanied by confusion or disturbed vision. Also, if you have any associated problems with balance, speech, weakness, fever, seizures, vomiting and a stiff neck or rash, you need immediate attention. Migraine also has an association with many other health disorders.

Migraine and depression

According to some experts, if you suffer from migraines once in a while, you have double the risk of depression than someone without any migraines. And, chronic migraines (15 or more days a month) again doubles your risk. In fact, certain antidepressant drugs, like amitriptyline, are effective in the treatment of migraine.

Migraine can induce stroke

Several studies have found a link between thrombotic stroke and migraines with aura. People who have migraines with aura have about twice the risk of a stroke than other people. But this can be countered with a healthy lifestyle, nutritious diet and maintaining a healthy blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

Epilepsy: Having one can increase risk of the other

Epilepsy and migraine involve sensory disturbances and mood changes. Having one may double your risk of the other. According to a research published in Epilepsia, a journal of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), there is a shared genetic susceptibility to epilepsy and migraine. Researchers say that having a strong family history of seizure disorders increases the chance of having migraine with aura (MA).

It increases risk of heart diseases

In addition to having a higher risk of stroke, both men and women with migraines also have a higher risk of heart diseases. According to a study in BMJ, migraine is associated with increased risks of cardiovascular problems including heart attacks, stroke, blood clots and an irregular heart rate. Researchers from Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, and Stanford University, USA, say that though the absolute risks were low, the findings suggest that migraine should be considered a potent and persistent risk factor for most cardiovascular diseases in both men and women.

Asthma may cause future migraine attacks

Even though asthma is a respiratory disorder and migraine is a neurological condition, the two can go together. Both these conditions involve inflammation. In asthma, there’s inflammation and excessive constriction of the airways and, in migraine, there is inflammation of the blood vessels outside the brain. Pre-existing asthma may be a strong predictor of future chronic migraine attacks in individuals experiencing occasional migraine headaches, according to researchers from the University of Cincinnati (UC), Montefiore Headache Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Vedanta Research. The journal Headache, published this study.

Obesity makes it worse

Obesity can make your migraine worse. In fact, overweight people who are between the ages of 20 and 55 may have a higher risk of experiencing migraine headaches, says researchers from the American Academy of Neurology. But after the age of 55, total body obesity was not associated with migraine in men or women.

Pain disorders and migraine

People with migraines have differences in an area of the brain that helps process sensory information, including pain. Researchers from American Academy of Neurology found that part of the cortex area of the brain is thicker in people with migraine than in people who do not have the neurological disorder. This may explain why people with migraines often also have other pain disorders like back pain, jaw pain and other sensory problems like allodynia, where the skin becomes so sensitive that even a gentle breeze can be painful.

Published : August 9, 2019 7:51 pm | Updated:August 9, 2019 7:54 pm

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