Migraines May Increase Bell's Palsy Risk

New findings published in the journal Neurology suggest that migraines may be linked to Bell's Palsy. 

Researchers used data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) to examine two groups of patients 18 and up. All had either been diagnosed with migraines that resulted in auras, no auras or unspecified side-effects while the other group of patients matched controls without migraine or other headache extracted from a random sample in NHIRD, from January 2005 to December 2009.

Researchers discovered that from 671 persons in the migraine group and 365 in the control group had been newly diagnosed with Bell's palsy. Both groups consisted of about 136,704 participants.

Findings reveal that those who had more issues with their migraines were also more likely to develop Bell's palsy.

"In clinical practice, in addition to hypertension, diabetes, and pregnancy, migraine history should be traced in patients with Bell's palsy," Wang said, in a news release. 

Furthermore, researchers found that patients who suffer from migraines also have a higher chance of developing sudden senssorineural hearing loss. 

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).