Most Traditional Cardiovascular Risk Factors Not Linked to Migraine

WEDNESDAY, July 31, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- For women, many traditional cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) are inversely associated with migraine risk, according to a study published online July 31 in Neurology.

Linda Al-Hassany, from Erasmus MC University Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and colleagues conducted cross-sectional analyses within an ongoing population-based cohort study to examine sex-specific associations between CVRFs and lifetime prevalence of migraine. Information was obtained on the lifetime prevalence of migraine, as well as current smoking, obesity, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus.

The analyses included 7,266 community-dwelling middle-aged and elderly persons. The researchers found that the lifetime prevalence of migraine was 14.9 percent. Associations were seen for current smoking (odds ratio, 0.72), more pack-years (odds ratio per standard deviation [SD] increase, 0.91), diabetes mellitus (odds ratio, 0.74), and higher fasting glucose levels (odds ratio per SD increase in glucose, 0.90) with lower migraine prevalence among women, while higher diastolic blood pressure was related to a higher prevalence of migraine (odds ratio per SD increase, 1.16). No significant associations were seen between CVRFs and migraine in men.

"Although definitive conclusions about underlying biological mechanisms in migraine cannot be drawn, these findings might support involvement of nontraditional factors and the presence of impaired microvascular function, reflected by increased diastolic blood pressure," the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text