Men who suffer migraine headaches have a higher risk of heart disease, particularly heart attacks, according to a study.
Dr. Tobias Kurth, of the Harvard University Medical School, studied 20,084 men ages 40 to 84 without a previous history of heart disease from 1981 through 2005.
The study found those who reported migraine were at a significantly increased risk of major cardiovascular disease and heart attack.
A total of 1,449 of the men reported migraines, including 434 with frequent migraines — four or more migraines during the five year period. During an average of 15.7 years of follow up, 2,236 major ischemic cardiovascular disease events occurred, including 750 ischemic strokes, 1,046 myocardial infarctions and 866 ischemic cardiovascular disease deaths, according to study.
Migraines, a particularly painful kind of recurring headache, often are marked by dizziness, nausea, vomiting or extreme sensitivity to light and sound.
Migraines are associated with perhaps a moderate increase in risk for cardiovascular disease, particularly compared to traditional factors like high blood pressure, smoking, obesity and elevated cholesterol. People who get migraines should be mindful of these risk factors.
The researchers said overweight people tend to have more frequent and severe migraines along with a higher risk of heart disease.
Migraines may act as a marker of the increased risk by warning of the build-up of plaque on the arteries.
The study was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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