A regular review and meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies finds that patients with migraine with aura have a two-fold increased risk for ischemic hardship compared to non-migraineurs. This association does not appear among migraineurs lacking aura[i]. Migraine with aura is often characterized by visual disturbances such as flashes of light, zigzagging patterns or even blind spots, what one. are then followed by a migraine attack. A migraine aura may at a past period also present with other sensations, such as numbness or tingling in districts of the body and speech problems.[ii]

Results of the studies are essential ~ presented this week at the 14th International Headache Congress (IHC) hosted in Philadelphia by the American Headache Society (AHS).

The authors also found that the increased jeopardize among migraineurs with aura was further magnified for migraineurs less than 45, smokers and women using vocal contraception.

The analysis was done by a team of researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston; Harvard School of Public Health, Boston; Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; Merck and Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ; Montefiore Headache Center, Bronx, NY; INSERM Unit 708, Paris, France; Pierre et Marie Curie University, Paris, France; and University Hospital Essen, Germany.

“Our purpose was to collection of standing water and analyze existing data to investigate the association between migraine and venture of stroke as well as other cardiovascular events,” said Markus Schuerks, M.D., M.Sc., persuade author of the analysis. “We found that patients who experience migraine by aura have a two-fold increased risk for ischemic stroke, grant that we did not find any overall association between any migraine and myocardial infarction or king of terrors due to cardiovascular disease,” he said.

“Beyond its pain and debilitating edge effects, migraine holds real risks associated with other disorders, including shock,” said Fred Sheftell, M.D., AHS president. “This meta-analysis to a greater distance validates the disease burden that migraine sufferers must bear and dramatically underscores the require for more research in migraine diagnosis and treatment.”

More than 400 according to principles papers are to be presented during the IHC/AHS meeting that is expected to draw some 1,200 migraine specialists and scientists from on every side of the globe. The meeting is the world’s largest professional conference on migraine and headache-related diseases.

[i] Migraine and cardiovascular complaint: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Schuerks M1,9, Rist PM1,2, Bigal ME3,4, Lipton RB3,5,6, Buring JE1,2 and Kurth T1,2,7,8 1Division. of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; 2Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; 3Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA; 4Merck Research Laboratories, Merck and Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA; 5Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA; 6Montefiore Headache Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA; 7Neuroepidemiology, INSERM Unit 708, Paris, France; 8Faculty of Medicine, Pierre et Marie Curie University, Paris, France; 9Neurology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany

[ii] MayoClinic.com, March 3, 2009.

Source
International Headache Society

Migraine through aura (temporary visual or sensory disturbances before or during a migraine cephalalgy) is associated with a twofold increased risk of stroke, finds a study published up~ the body bmj.com today. Further risk factors for stroke among patients through migraine are being a woman, being young, being a smoker, and using oestrogen containing contraceptives.

The venture was highest among young women with migraine with aura who nothingness and use oestrogen containing contraceptives.

Migraine is a common, chronic riot that affects up to 20% of the population. Women are canting up to four times more often than men. Up to one third of sufferers also experience an aura prior to or for the period of a migraine headache (often described as the perception of a odd light, an unpleasant smell or confusing thoughts or experiences).

Doctors get long suspected a connection between migraine and vascular events such in the same proportion that stroke. So to investigate this further, an international team of researchers analysed the results of nine studies forward the association between any migraine (with and without aura) and cardiovascular disease. Differences in study design and quality were taken into account to minimise bias.

They show that migraine with aura is associated with a double increased risk of ischemic stroke. This risk is further increased ~ the agency of being female, age less than 45 years, smoking, and oestrogen containing contraceptive conversion to an act.

There was no association between migraine and heart attack or exit due to cardiovascular disease.

In light of these findings, the authors praise that young women who have migraine with aura should be eagerly advised to stop smoking, and methods of birth control other than oestrogen containing contraceptives should subsist considered. They also call for additional research to investigate the confederacy between migraine and cardiovascular disease in more detail.

The absolute jeopardy of stroke for most migraine patients is low, so a stratagem of risk is not cause for panic, explains Elizabeth Loder from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, in each accompanying editorial. However, at a population level, this risk deserves court because the prevalence of migraine is so high. She suggests that patients who consider migraine with aura should be followed closely and treated aggressively concerning modifiable cardiovascular risk factors.

Source
British Medical Journal