Both men and women who suffer from migraine have a higher risk of having an ischemic stroke. For women, in particular, migraine is also linked to an increased likelihood of having a myocardial infarction and a hemorrhagic stroke. This is demonstrated by a study by the University of Aarhus, in Denmark, published in the journal Plos Medicinethe results of which can help identify people most at risk.
“Brain stroke is the first cause of disability in adults and the third cause of death – underlines Giovanni Esposito, director of the UOC of Cardiology, of the Federico II University Hospital of Naples and president of the Italian Society of Interventional Cardiology -. In Italy, there are about 150,000 new cases of cerebral stroke a year, of which 4,200 affect people under 45 and 10,000 under 54″. The Danish study was based on the analysis of medical records collected from 1996 to 2018, relating to individuals aged between 18 and 60 years. Researchers identified men and women who suffered from migraine based on data on drug prescriptions and compared their risk of ischemic (due to narrowing or blockage of blood vessels to the brain) and hemorrhagic ( characterized by rupture of blood vessels) with that of people in the population without migraine.
“The analysis showed that both men and women who suffered from migraines had an increased risk of ischemic stroke,” explains Esposito. “In particular, women who suffered from migraines were also found to be at a higher risk of myocardial infarction and hemorrhagic stroke.Since myocardial infarction and stroke can cause lifelong disability or even death, having identified migraine as a possible indicator can help us to recognize those most at risk early and to prepare interventions and targeted preventive therapies”. The reason for the association between migraine and cardiovascular diseases is still unclear.
“There may be links to genetic factors or common risk factors, such as high blood pressure, obesity, and smoking and drug use,” Esposito concludes.
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