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Chronic migraines linked to increased risk of heart attack

Category: General Health

Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University have found that people who have chronic migraines may be more than twice as likely to suffer a heart attack compared to those in good health. Patients dealing with the chronic condition are also at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and high blood pressure.

In the study, the researchers compared the medical data of 6,102 people with migraines to 5,243 healthy respondents. After taking into account headache frequency and a wide range of medically diagnosed cardiovascular issues, the team found that 4.1 percent of migraine sufferers have had a heart attack, compared to just 1.9 percent of the control group.

"Cardiovascular risk reduction is important for everybody," said lead investigator Richard Lipton. "If you have migraine, it might be more important for you than for the general population."

"We hope these findings will motivate migraine sufferers to exercise regularly, to avoid smoking and to address their other health problems," added Dawn Buse, co-author of the study.

Additional studies are currently being conducted to assess whether effective migraine treatment can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.