Migraine - Headache

Treatment is updated with the most recent articles listed on top.
To view only the last month's articles for the other sub-topics, go to our Monthly Online Newsletters page

If you have any questions regarding our Search Reports, please contact us at info@infomedsearch.com.

CONTINUE YOUR INFOMEDSEARCH RESEARCH with our previous InfoMedLinks. Start with InfoMedLinks 2007.

Custom Search

Migraine and Headache

General Information

NEWS:

Brain damage risk linked to migraine frequency “Migraine patients who have frequent attacks or a long history of migraines have an increased risk of progressive brain damage according to findings on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), researchers form the Netherlands in the current issue of Headache. Previous research on brain imaging has shown that migraine patients are more likely to show "silent brain damage," or damage with no signs or symptoms, than are control subjects, the authors explain. But the brain sites that are affected have not been specified; only white matter hyperintensities have been investigated. “

Children With Migraines at Higher Risk for Sleep Disorders “Children with migraine headaches are more likely to have sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea and lack of sleep, than children with non-migraine headaches, new research shows.”

Health Alert: Absorbable heart plug “Nearly 30 million Americans suffer from migraines, and heart surgeons think there's a link between painful headaches and a small hole in the heart. Researchers are now testing a new bio-absorbable heart plug to see if it can use the body's own tissue to close the hole and stop the migraines.“

Headache: Is it just a passing pain or something more?

Low-energy bulbs 'cause migraine' “However, the Lighting Association, which represents bulb manufacturers, said that the latest energy-saving bulbs did not produce a flicker.”

Migraine Frequency Linked With Women's Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease “New research shows women who have weekly migraine are significantly more likely to have a stroke than those with fewer migraines or no migraine at all, but those with lower migraine frequency may face increased risk of heart attacks.”

Migraine Linked To Blood Clots In Veins “Researchers do not know why migraine and venous thrombosis are linked. One theory is that the blood of people with migraine may be more prone to clotting. The study also found that people with migraine are not more likely to have hardening or narrowing of the arteries, which is contrary to a current theory. "The thinking has been that because people with migraine are more likely to have strokes and other cardiovascular problems, that they would also have more severe and early atherosclerosis," said study author Stefan Kiechl, MD, of Innsbruck Medical University in Austria. "This study is the first to use high-resolution ultrasound to examine this theory, and it provides solid evidence to refute it." “

Patent Foramen Ovale and Migraine Headaches “That I'm not crowing is less a function of my humility than it is simple puzzlement over what the heck is really going on. It seems to me that it is nearly impossible to figure out whether this trial was negative principally because PFOs have nothing to do with migraines (as I suspect), or because of incredibly inept handling of the data (as the ex-principle investigator alleges). Whatever the reason, anyone with migraines whose doctor wants them to have off-label PFO closure should keep two things in mind: 1) The best information that we have to date is that PFO closure does no good. 2) In the MIST trial, PFO closure was not as benign a procedure as the investigators and the sponsor had hoped. Five of the 65 patients having PFO closure experienced significant complications, three of which could potentially be lethal (though none died). That's a pretty high risk for a procedure that has no measurable benefit. As a migraine sufferer (and a cardiologist) myself, this is one potential therapy I'm crossing off my list at least for the time being. “

PTSD common in chronic migraine sufferers “"As a previous study has suggested that PTSD treatment alone can positively influence chronic pain conditions and disability," they add, "one of the implications of this study is that there should be greater consideration for the evaluation of PTSD in chronic migraine patients, as well as for the use of cognitive/behavioral therapy (alone or in combination with drug therapy) in this subgroup of headache sufferers." “

Vitamin D Deficiency Common in Patients With Chronic Migraine “New research showing that vitamin D deficiency is common in patients with chronic migraine suggests that this patient group, like other vitamin D–deficient populations, is at increased risk for cardiovascular disease, malignancy, and other serious illnesses that have been linked to low levels of this "good-health" vitamin. … "Clinicians generally don't recognize the importance of vitamin D deficiency, and so they don't screen for it — not just in migraineurs, but in all of their patients. But it is a condition that is easily treated and may confer major, wide-ranging health benefits," he said.”

Warning for Migraine With Aura “In a recent study, researchers found women suffering from migraine with aura who also tested positive for a specific gene variant had more than three times the risk of cardiovascular disease and four times the risk of stroke than women without migraines or the gene variant. The gene variation was in the methyleneterahydrofolate reductase gene.”

ARTICLES:

What are vestibular migraines?

JOURNAL ARTICLES:

A 13-year long-term outcome study of elderly with chronic daily headache. (Cephalalgia. 2008)

Cluster headache: from treatment to pathophysiology. (Neurol Sci. 2008)

Eating disorders and headache: coincidence or consequence? (Neurol Sci. 2008)

Headaches and Migraines Are Associated With an Increased Risk of Preeclampsia in Peruvian Women. (Am J Hypertens. 2008)

Is migraine associated with right-to-left shunt a separate disease? Results of the SAM study (Cephalalgia 2008)

Low Leptin Levels in Migraine: A Case Control Study. (Headache. 2008)

Migraine in Postmenopausal Women and the Risk of Invasive Breast Cancer (Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention 2008) “Conclusions: These data suggest that a history of migraine is associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer, particularly among ER+/PR+ ductal and lobular carcinomas. Because this is the first study to address an association between migraine history and breast cancer risk, additional studies are needed to confirm this finding.”

Migraine with and without aura and risk for cardiovascular disease. (Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2008) “Although many prior studies have demonstrated increased risks in women with migraine with aura, an emerging body of evidence is showing similar risks in men. These risks are further compounded with increased migraine frequency, smoking, and the use of oral contraceptive pills. Because the overall risk for stroke and myocardial infarction in migraineurs remains relatively low, recommendations at this time are limited to the modification of cardiovascular risk factors, such as smoking cessation and the avoidance of oral contraceptive pills, especially in women suffering from migraine with aura.”

Patent Foramen Ovale and Migraine (Circulation. 2008) “Conclusions— In this multiethnic, elderly, population-based cohort, PFO detected with transthoracic echocardiography and agitated saline was not associated with self-reported migraine. The causal relationship between PFO and migraine remains uncertain, and the role of PFO closure among unselected patients with migraine remains questionable.”

Patent foramen ovale and migraine: a quantitative systematic review (Cephalalgia 2008) “The low-to-moderate grade of evidence from observational studies supports an apparent association between PFO and migraine. Although PFO closure seemed to affect migraine patterns favourably, the very low grade of available evidence to support this association precludes definitive conclusions.“

[Patent foramen ovale and migraine: where is the connection?] (Neurologia. 2008)

Patent Foramen Ovale and Migraine. A Cross-Sectional Study From the Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS). (Circulation. 2008)

The metabolic headaches. (Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2008)

The Migraine Cycle: Patient Burden of Migraine During and Between Migraine Attacks (Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain 2008)

Thunderclap headache attributed to reversible cerebral vasoconstriction: view and review. (J Headache Pain. 2008)

Trigger factors in migraine patients. (Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2008) “RESULTS: Most patients showed at least one dietary trigger, fasting was the most frequent one, followed by alcohol and chocolate. Hormonal factors appeared in 53%, being the pre-menstrual period the most frequent trigger. Physical activities caused migraine in 13%, sexual activities in 2.5% and 64% reported emotional stress a trigger factor. 81% related some sleep problem as a trigger factor. Regarding environmental factors, smells were reported by 36.5%.”

Go to the top