Migraines, a common type of headache, affect about 36 million people in the United States, which is around 12 percent of the population, according to the American Migraine Foundation. When a person has a migraine, she may have a throbbing or pulsating sensation in her head, which may be worse on one side. These headaches can last between six and 48 hours, with some patients having a migraine “hangover”, in which they have symptoms such as neck pain and trouble thinking clearly after the migraine has gone away. A migraine occurs when there is abnormal activity in the brain. This change in neurological activity can be caused by several factors, include stress, exercise, certain smells, bright lights and alcohol.
People with migraines are more likely to have post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. About 7.7 million adults in the United States have this anxiety disorder, noted the National Institute of Mental Health. Megan Rauscher of Reuters Health reported that a 2009 study published in Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain found that out of 593 adults suffering with migraines, about 30 percent of participants with chronic daily headaches and about 22 percent of participants with “episodic” headaches met criteria for PTSD, which is a higher percentage than that in the general population.
While both PTSD and migraines are more common in women — migraines affect three times as many woman as men, according to the American Migraine Foundation — a new study published in Headache found that the risk of both conditions are higher in men. Authors B. Lee Peterlin, D.O., Satnam S. Nijjar, M.D. and Gretchen E. Tietjen, M.D. reviewed the epidemiology of the two conditions and found that men who have migraine have a four times greater risk of developing PTSD compared to women with migraine. This suggests that sex hormones play a role in the co-morbidity. They noted a greater risk of developing PTSD over developing depression if the traumatic event occurred after age 12 and that the two of the most common traumatic events found in migraine sufferers with PTSD — combat and motor vehicle accidents — are more common after age 12. While the authors noted that the association between migraines and PTSD is not known, they stated in the conclusion that “dysregulation of the autonomic system and HPA axis as well as structural alterations in the corpus callosum in response to PTSD may play a role” in the co-morbidity. In the press release from Headache, the authors suggested further studies into the sex differences in co-morbid migraines and PTSD to validate their findings and also to find treatment.
References
A.D.A.M. Migraine. MedlinePlus, 2010. Web. 8 August 2011
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000709.htm
American Migraine Foundation. About Migraine. Web. 8 August 2011
http://www.americanmigrainefoundation.org/whatismigraine.aspx
National Institute of Mental Health. The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America. National Institutes of Health, 2008. Web. 8 August 2011
http://wwwapps.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-america.shtml#PTSD
Rauscher, Megan. Post-Traumatic Stress Common in Migraine Sufferers. Reuters Health, 3 April 2009. Web. 8 August 2011
http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/04/03/us-stress-migraine-idUSTRE53251R20090403
Peterlin, B., Nijjar, S. and Tietjen, G. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Migraine: Epidemiology, Sex Differences, and Potential Mechanisms. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, 2011. Web. 8 August 2011
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1526-4610.2011.01907.x/abstract
News and Information. Sex Matters — More Men with Migraine Suffer from PTSD than Women. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, 2011. Web. 8 August 2011
http://www.headachejournal.org/view/0/newsInformation.html
Reviewed August 9, 2011
by Michele Blacksberg R.N.
Edited by Jody Smith