Do Migraines Lead to Cognitive Decline?

While many experience migraines, there are many unanswered questions. One such question researchers are interested is whether or not those who experience migraine headaches are also more likely to experience cognitive decline when compare to those who don’t suffer. Previous studies have shown that migraines lead to increased risk of stroke and structural brain lesions. A study that appeared in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on August 8, 2012 says “Previous studies on migraines and cognitive decline were small and unable to identify a link between… [migraines and cognitive decline]. Our study was large enough to draw the conclusion that migraines, while painful, are not strongly linked to cognitive decline.” The researchers looked at data from the Women’s Health Study, a cohort of nearly 40,000 women, 45 years and older. In this study, researchers analyzed data from 6,349 women who … Read more

Behavioral Issues Come to Children with Migraine

A new study in Cephalagia shows that children who have migraine headaches are much more likely than other children to also have behavioral difficulties, including social and attention issues, and anxiety and depression. This is no surprise to me. Marco Arruda, director of the Glia Institute in São Paulo, Brazil, together with Marcelo Bigal of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York studied 1,856 Brazilian children aged 5 to 11. The authors were studying how children’s behavioural and emotional symptoms correlate with migraine and tension-type headaches. Children who experience migraine had a much greater overall likelihood of abnormal behavioral scores than controls, especially in social, attention, somatic, anxiety-depressive, and internalizing domains. Children who experience tension-type headaches were affected in the same domains as migraine sufferers, but to a lesser degree. For children with either migraine (23%) or tension-type … Read more

Migraines – Cause and Effect

Roughly 30 million Americans suffer from migraine headaches and women are affected 3 times more often than men. Hormonal changes are part of the reason why females have such a higher incidence. Migraine headaches typically last between 4 and up to 72 hours with some experiencing them several times a month. Several risk factors have been identified that increase a person’s chance of having migraines: Family history: If one has 1 or more first-degree relatives with migraine headaches, the likelihood rises substantially. Age: Most people are between 15 and 55 who have migraine headaches. Gender: Women are much more likely to suffer from migraines than men. Certain medical conditions: epilepsy, anxiety, stroke, depression, and high blood pressure are all associated with migraines. Hormonal changes: Women with migraines often have them just before or shortly after menstruation. The exact cause of … Read more

Daily Preventative Therapies Can Reduce Migraine

The American Academy of Neurology/American Headache Society Guidelines released earlier in April 2012, provide evidence-based and effective treatments that can prevent migraine attacks and lessen their severity. They state 38% of migraine sufferers require preventive therapy, but just 3%  to 13% currently use any preventatives. Some patients are taking preventatives that have never been shown to work. The guidelines show that prevention of migraines requires daily medication. Mark Green, MD, director of the Headache Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in New York says “If these guidelines are used widely, we will be able to up the odds of reducing headaches by 50 percent…Evidence is building to suggest that if we allow migraines to progress, the frequency of attacks may increase, and they may also become harder to treat.” The guidelines panel found the following: • The anti-seizure medications … Read more

Botox Injections Have Benefit for Chronic Headaches

A new review and analysis of previous studies has found that botulinum toxin A (“Botox”) injections have a small to modest benefit for those with chronic migraine headaches and chronic daily headache. Botulinum toxin A injections were first proposed as headache treatment when it was observed that patients with chronic headaches receiving cosmetic botulinum injections experienced headache improvement, prompting several case series that suggested benefit. Jeffrey L. Jackson, M.D., M.P.H., of the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and colleagues performed a review and meta-analysis to assess the association of botulinum toxin A with reducing headache frequency when used for preventive treatment of migraine, tension, or chronic daily headaches in adults. In the study, headaches were categorized as episodic (less than 15 headaches per month) or chronic (15 or more headaches per month) migraine and episodic or chronic daily or tension … Read more