Women With Migraine and Heart Disease, Stroke Risk

Women With Migraine and Heart Disease, Stroke Risk

Researchers say it should be considered an independent risk factor for future heart trouble

WebMD News from HealthDay

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, May 31, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Women who suffer from migraine headaches may have a slightly increased risk of heart disease or stroke, a new study suggests.

"Migraine should be considered a marker for increased risk of cardiovascular disease, at least in women," said lead researcher Dr. Tobias Kurth, director of the Institute of Public Health at Charite-Universitatsmedizin in Berlin, Germany.

But, Kurth cautioned that this study can't prove that migraines cause heart attack or stroke, only that they may make these events more likely.

Also, men may be similarly affected. "We have no reason to believe that this is limited to women," Kurth said.

Migraines are headaches marked by intense throbbing or pulsing, often accompanied by nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light and sound. They had previously been linked to an increased risk for stroke, but this new study also ties them to possible heart attack, death and the need for heart surgery, the researchers noted.

"Physicians should be aware of the association between migraine and cardiovascular disease, and women with migraine should be evaluated for their risk," Kurth said.

For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 116,000 U.S. women who took part in the Nurses' Health Study II. At the start of the study, the women were aged 25 to 42, free from heart disease, and were followed from 1989 to 2011.

At the study's start, 15 percent of the women had migraines. During 20 years of follow-up, more than 1,300 women had a heart attack or stroke and 223 died from one of those conditions, the researchers found.

Compared with women who did not have migraines, women who had migraines had a 50 percent greater risk for heart attack, stroke or surgery to open blocked heart arteries, the study suggested.

Specifically, women with migraines had about a 39 percent higher risk of heart attack, a 62 percent higher risk of stroke and a 73 percent higher risk of heart surgery, Kurth said.

In addition, migraine was linked with a 37 percent higher risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke, the findings suggested.

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