Women with migraines need to watch out, as a study has found that compared to other women, they are more likely to develop heart problems. Women with migraines have also been found to have higher chances of dying because of heart-related diseases.
Researchers from the United States and Germany studied the records of 115, 541 women from ages 25 to 42 who did not have heart problems. These women were part of Nurses' Health Study II. The researchers carried a long-term study, tracking the women from 1989 up to 2011 and watched out for heart-related problems and deaths.
Women with #migraine have higher risk of cardiovascular disease, mortality https://t.co/67Hh2ZcuB0pic.twitter.com/yZk4QfZegG
- Reliawire Science (@sciencebeta) June 1, 2016
Heart Attack And Strokes More Likely
At the beginning of the study 15.2 percent of these women were diagnosed to have migraines and in the course of the study period, there were 1,329 heart-related problems. There were also 223 who died due to cardiovascular disease.
Live Science said that 678 of the women with migraines suffered from heart attacks, 651 had strokes while 203 experienced chest pain or had to have heart-related medical procedures. Lead researcher Dr. Tobias Kurth was quoted by US News as saying that women with migraines had around 39 percent more risk of heart attacks 62 percent more risk of stroke and 73 percent more risk of heart surgery.
Migraine Risk May Also Be Applicable To Men
"Migraines should be considered a marker for increased risk of cardiovascular disease, at least in women," said Kurth. Kurth is the director of the Institute of Public Health at Charite-Universitatsmedizin in Berlin, Germany.
According to EurekAlert, the authors said that the researchers do not have a reason to exclude men from their present findings of associating migraine with heart-related problems The study was published in journal BMJ.
Do you think men will have the same results if studied? Write your comments below.