Health & Medicine
Migranes: Asthma Sufferers Prone To Chronic Headaches
Matt Hoffman
First Posted: Nov 30, 2015 12:01 PM EST
Those who suffer from occasional migraines may be prone to chronic migraine attacks later on if they have a pre-exisiting asthma condition. Researchers from the University of Cincinnati paired with scientists from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the Montefiore Headache Center, and Vedanta Research to examine the connection.
"If you have asthma along with episodic or occasional migraine, then your headaches are more likely to evolve into a more disabling form known as chronic migraine," Vincent Martin, a professor of medicine in Cincinnati's Division of General Internal Medicine, co-director of the Headache and Facial Pain Program at the UC Neuroscience Institute and lead author in the study said.
Martin, along with Richard Lipton and Dawn Buse of the Albert Einstien College, and Kristina Fanning, Daniel Serrano, and Michael Reed of Vedanta Research, studied 4,500 people who either suffered from episodic migraine or fewer than 15 headaches per month in 2008, according to a news release.
The team took data from the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention Study (AMPP), where the participants answered questions in both 2008 and 2009. The participants were divided into two groups based on their responses in 2008, with one group consisting of episodic migraine sufferers who had asthma, and the other consisting of episodic sufferers without asthma. Medications being used, whether they suffered from depression, and whether or not they were smokers was also taken into account.
"Migraine and asthma are disorders that involve inflammation and activation of smooth muscle either in blood vessels or in the airways," Lipton said. "Therefore, asthma-related inflammation may lead to migraine progression."
In 2009, the researchers revisited the questioning, with certain participants having progressed to becoming sufferers of chronic migraine. The team noticed that 5.4 percent of participants with asthma were suffering newly onset chronic migraine, whereas only 2.5 percent of those without asthma progressed.
"In this study, persons with episodic migraine and asthma at baseline were more than twice as likely to develop chronic migraine after one year of follow-up as compared to those with episodic migraine but not asthma," Martin said. "The strength of the relationship is robust; asthma was a stronger predictor of chronic migraine than depression, which other studies have found to be one of the most potent conditions associated with the future development of chronic migraine."
Researchers believe that the relationship between asthma and chronic migraine may have something to do with the fact that asthma sufferers are more likely to have allergies, which have been shown to be related to chronic headaches. Patients who have hay fever are more prone to frequent headaches, according to Martin. The team also believes that asthma patients may also have overactive parasympathetic nervous systems, which would predispose them to both migraine and asthma attacks.
The team decided that perhaps prescribing preventative medications for migraines early on may prevent this, and "also, if allergies are the trigger it begs the question should we treat allergies more aggressively in these patients?" Martin said.
Roughly 12 percent of the U.S. population suffers from migraine, with just about three times more women suffering than men, according to the researchers. Those who suffer from chronic headaches have them 15 or more days in the span of a month, amounting to about 1 percent of the total population. Chronic migraines take large tolls on sufferers, essentially incapacitating them, preventing them from attending work and social events.
Asthma is dealt with by about 8 percent of the adult American population, according to the CDC.
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TagsAsthma, Migraine, chronic migraine, episodic migraine, University of Cincinnati, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Headache Center, Vedanta Research, Vincent Martin, Richard Lipton, Dawn Buse, Kristina Fanning, Daniel Serrano, Michael Reed, American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention Study, AMPP, Hay fever, Overactive Parasympathetic Nervous System, Preventative Medicine ©2024 ScienceWorldReport.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The window to the world of science news.
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First Posted: Nov 30, 2015 12:01 PM EST
Those who suffer from occasional migraines may be prone to chronic migraine attacks later on if they have a pre-exisiting asthma condition. Researchers from the University of Cincinnati paired with scientists from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the Montefiore Headache Center, and Vedanta Research to examine the connection.
"If you have asthma along with episodic or occasional migraine, then your headaches are more likely to evolve into a more disabling form known as chronic migraine," Vincent Martin, a professor of medicine in Cincinnati's Division of General Internal Medicine, co-director of the Headache and Facial Pain Program at the UC Neuroscience Institute and lead author in the study said.
Martin, along with Richard Lipton and Dawn Buse of the Albert Einstien College, and Kristina Fanning, Daniel Serrano, and Michael Reed of Vedanta Research, studied 4,500 people who either suffered from episodic migraine or fewer than 15 headaches per month in 2008, according to a news release.
The team took data from the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention Study (AMPP), where the participants answered questions in both 2008 and 2009. The participants were divided into two groups based on their responses in 2008, with one group consisting of episodic migraine sufferers who had asthma, and the other consisting of episodic sufferers without asthma. Medications being used, whether they suffered from depression, and whether or not they were smokers was also taken into account.
"Migraine and asthma are disorders that involve inflammation and activation of smooth muscle either in blood vessels or in the airways," Lipton said. "Therefore, asthma-related inflammation may lead to migraine progression."
In 2009, the researchers revisited the questioning, with certain participants having progressed to becoming sufferers of chronic migraine. The team noticed that 5.4 percent of participants with asthma were suffering newly onset chronic migraine, whereas only 2.5 percent of those without asthma progressed.
"In this study, persons with episodic migraine and asthma at baseline were more than twice as likely to develop chronic migraine after one year of follow-up as compared to those with episodic migraine but not asthma," Martin said. "The strength of the relationship is robust; asthma was a stronger predictor of chronic migraine than depression, which other studies have found to be one of the most potent conditions associated with the future development of chronic migraine."
Researchers believe that the relationship between asthma and chronic migraine may have something to do with the fact that asthma sufferers are more likely to have allergies, which have been shown to be related to chronic headaches. Patients who have hay fever are more prone to frequent headaches, according to Martin. The team also believes that asthma patients may also have overactive parasympathetic nervous systems, which would predispose them to both migraine and asthma attacks.
The team decided that perhaps prescribing preventative medications for migraines early on may prevent this, and "also, if allergies are the trigger it begs the question should we treat allergies more aggressively in these patients?" Martin said.
Roughly 12 percent of the U.S. population suffers from migraine, with just about three times more women suffering than men, according to the researchers. Those who suffer from chronic headaches have them 15 or more days in the span of a month, amounting to about 1 percent of the total population. Chronic migraines take large tolls on sufferers, essentially incapacitating them, preventing them from attending work and social events.
Asthma is dealt with by about 8 percent of the adult American population, according to the CDC.
Related Articles
Obesity: Immune Cells That Fight Obesity, New Look Into Autoimmunity
Mammograms and Anxiety: Breast Cancer Screening Shouldn't Make You Anxious
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone