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There I was - sitting in a rather boring meeting, minding my own business (thank you very much) when a bolt of lightening split my skull with such force that I reached up looking for blood (surely if I hurt this badly there must be blood involved, right?). The florescent lights in the room began to shimmer and dance about like a mirage rising from the desert. I managed to make it outside the meeting room before becoming violently ill. I was hit (and I use the word literally) by a migraine, specifically a migraine with aura.
Migraines have to be the mother of all headaches. Not only is the pain debilitating, but migraines are often accompanied by nausea and vomiting as well as light sensitivity. A migraine with aura adds a whole new layer of misery to an already unbearable situation with additional symptoms such as the shimmering and dancing lights, vision loss, stars, zigzag lines in vision, confusion, numbness (especially in the face or in your hands or feet), difficulty speaking, and extreme skin sensitivity. If you’ve never had a migraine, then try to imagine the worst headache you’ve ever had times, oh say, a thousand (just to be on the conservative side) and you might come close to imagining what migraine is like for those who have them. If you’ve ever had a migraine, then you know what I’m talking about and you have my deepest sympathy.
As if migraines aren’t bad enough, they bring with them an increased risk of stroke and heart disease. According to the Mayo Clinic, migraine sufferers are more likely to suffer a stroke than are their non-migraine counterparts. This risk of stroke increases if you have high blood pressure, smoke, or take birth control pills. Now, researchers in Iceland indicate that those who have migraines with aura are at a greater risk not only of stroke but for dying of heart disease as well.
The Reykjavik Study was a long-term, large population study which was led by Larus Gudmundsson from the University of Iceland. Sponsored by the Icelandic Heart Association, the Reykjavik Study began in 1967. Researchers examined more than 18,700 participants who were migraine sufferers to determine the impact, if any, of the migraines on mortality and heart disease. In all, researchers were able to examine data from more than 470,000 study participants. As mentioned, this was a long-term study and data was collected for 26 years.
Researchers found that participants who suffered migraines with aura were at a higher risk for not only stroke but death by heart disease as well. In addition to a higher risk of death from stroke or heart disease, researchers also found that those who had migraines with aura were at a greater risk of dying from any cause. (The risks were greater for women than men.) Interestingly, these findings only extended to those who have migraines with aura. No increased risk was found for those who had just plain old “normal” migraines without the associated aura.
Researchers were not able to say why women were at a greater risk than men or why the migraines with aura appear to put you at a greater risk for stroke or cardiac event. The study authors are calling for additional studies to explore the link between migraines and heart disease. Also recommended are studies to determine if preventing migraines with aura from occurring might lessen or even eliminate the increased risk.
Sources:
Migraine With Aura, The Mayo Clinic, 03 Mar 2009, http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/migraine-with-aura/DS00908
BMJ-British Medical Journal (2010, August 24). Migraine sufferers have higher risk of dying from heart disease and stroke, research finds. ScienceDaily, Retrieved August 25, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100824231218.htm
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"researchers also found that those who had migraines with aura were at a greater risk of dying from any cause. "
This statement does not make sense as it infers that those without migraines with aura do not have a risk of dying from any cause.
November 11, 2010 - 1:12pmThis is not true as we will all die.
This statment also infers that migraine with aura increases the risk of dying from all causes such as an accident, childbirth, diabetes, cancer, etc., which is obviously not true.
One should note that having migraines with or without aura does NOT predispose you to heart attack or stroke UNLESS you have risk factors for heart attack and stroke such as hypertension, high cholesteral, smoke, drink alcohol, overweight, diabetes, family history, etc.
A physician will tell you that even if you have a family history of heart attach or stroke, you only inherit the predisposition, not the disease and absent the risk factors it's unlikely you will have heart disease or stroke.
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