Headaches

Gene Linked to Increased Heart Disease in Migraine Women

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Heart disease is the leading cause of death and stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Women who experience migraine with aura appear to be at an increased risk of heart disease and stroke if they have a certain gene. For the study, researchers followed 25,001 Caucasian women for the occurrence of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks and ischemic stroke. About 18 percent of the women in the study had a history of migraine while 40 percent of those with active migraine reported migraine with aura. Migraine with aura can be described as neurological symptoms that usually last for about 30 minutes and most often lead to visual disturbances. The women were also tested for a certain gene variant in the methyleneterahydrofolate reductase gene. During a 12-year follow-up period, 625 cardiovascular disease events occurred. The … Read more

Root Canal Triggers Headache

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I found an interesting article the other day written by a Chiropractor and describing how myofascial trigger points can mimic signs and symptoms of a neurological disease. The case describes the patient as the following. “A 44-year-old female, an office manager for a dentist for eight years, was referred by an EENT specialist with a chief complaint of headaches (HA), with a six- to eight-year history of HA and facial pain. Although all of her symptoms were usually on the right side of the face and head, the HA occasionally became bilateral when very intense. The facial pain was always located on the right. Once started, her symptoms lasted anywhere from four to ten hours. The only thing she remembers that may have triggered the onset was dental work done within six months of the start of the symptoms-several fillings … Read more

Topamax May Increase Birth Defects

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Taking the drug topiramate (topamax) alone orwith other epilepsy drugs during pregnancy may increase the risk of birth defects, according to a recent study Research has shown that many epilepsy drugs increase the risk of birth defects, but little research has been done on topiramate. Studies have shown that topiramate increases the risk of birth defects in animals. A looked at178 babies born of which 16 had major birth defects. Three of these were in infants whose mothers were taking only topiramate, and 13 were in those whose mothers were taking topiramate and other epilepsy drugs. “.. results should also get the attention of women with migraine and their doctors, since topiramate is also used for preventing migraine, which is an even more common condition that also occurs frequently in women of childbearing age,” says John Craig, MRCP, of the … Read more

Topamax Increases Risk of Kidney Stones

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Topiramate (Topamax), a drug commonly prescribed to treat seizures and migraine headaches, can increase the propensity of calcium phosphate kidney stones, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. A study — the largest cross-sectional examination of how the long-term use of topiramate affects kidney-stone formation — appears in the October issue of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases. Several case reports have described an association between topiramate and the development of kidney stones, but this complication had not been well recognized and physicians have not informed patients about the risk, the UT Southwestern researchers said. More important, the mechanism of stone formation was largely unknown previously. “The wide-spread and escalating use of topiramate emphasizes the importance of considering the long-term impact of this drug on kidney-stone formation,” said Dr. Khashayar Sakhaee, senior author of the study and chief of … Read more

Migraines Cause Sleep Disorders in Children

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Children with a migraine headache are more likely to have sleep disorders, such as obstructive sleep apnea  and lack of sleep, than children without a migraine. For this study, presented on June 10 at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS), 90 children with headache and sleep problems underwent a polysomnogram, a sleep test that monitors the brain, eye movements, muscle activity, heart rhythm, and breathing. Of the participants, 60 had a migraine, 11 had a chronic daily headache, six had a tension headache and 13 had a non-specific headache. The study found the children with a migraine were twice as likely as the other children in the study to have OSA. A sleep-related breathing disorder (SRBD) was found in 56 percent of the children with a migraine versus 30 percent of the children … Read more