Migraine is a neurological disorder characterized by intense, throbbing headaches, usually on one side of the head. In women and patients with aura, migraine is also associated with cardiovascular events like ischemic stroke and ischemic heart disease, though clear associations between cardiovascular disease (CVD) and migraine are not established. This study aims to investigate the risk of CVD in patients with migraine.
In this nationwide, population-based cohort study, a total of 51,032 patients with migraine and 510,320 people from the general population were included. The primary outcome of the study was cardiovascular outcomes and comorbidity-adjusted hazard ratios derived using the Cox regression analysis.
During 19 years of follow-up, the cumulative incidences of cardiovascular events, as compared with the general population were as follows: 25 vs. 17 for myocardial infarction (HR 1.49), 45 vs. 25 for ischemic stroke (2.26), 13 vs. 11 for peripheral artery disease (1.12), 11 vs. 6 for hemorrhagic stroke (1.94), 19 vs. 18 for heart failure (1.04), 27 vs. 18 for venous thromboembolism (1.59), and 47 vs. 34 for atrial fibrillation (1.25).
The research concluded that migraine was associated with an increased incidence of cardiovascular events, mainly ischemic stroke, venous thromboembolism, myocardial infarction, and atrial fibrillation.
Ref: https://www.bmj.com/content/360/bmj.k96
