Migraines With Aura Raise Heart Risks For Older Women

Older women who experience migraines with aura have a higher risk of experiencing heart attacks, strokes, angina and heart-related deaths, say American researchers. Older women who experience migraines without aura are at no higher risk than older women who never have migraines.

You can read about this study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Dr. Richard B. Lipton, one of the researchers, said "This study confirmed an association between migraine with aura and stroke that was previously identified, and also demonstrated that migraine was a risk factor for ischemic heart disease as well."

Migraine affects about 1 in every six women and 1 in every 15 men. Migraine can affect people in many different ways. Some people just get a terrible headache, others experience nausea, vomiting, photosensitivity, sensitivity to noises.

In this study, the researchers looked at data on 28,000 women, all aged over 45, from the Women's Health Study. They found that those women who experienced aura with their migraine were twice as likely to have a heart attack or some major cardiovascular disease, and twice as likely to experience ischemic stroke. They also found that women who experience migraines without aura were no more likely to experience any of these risks than women who never have migraines.

The scientists do not know why there is an association with cardiovascular risk and migraines with aura. Some suggest the link may be genetic.

The researchers added that further studies are needed to:

-- Find out whether men and younger women who experience migraines with aura are also at higher risk

-- Find out whether treating just the migraine may lower the cardiovascular and stroke risks

-- Find out what strategies to take to help older women who have migraines with aura to reduce their heart disease and stroke risks

What is Aura?

Some people have a visual warning that the headache is coming - their eyesight goes funny. For those who have never experienced it, imagine that a photographer takes a close-up picture of you with a powerful flash. For a few seconds you cannot see properly - the visual experience of aura at the onset of migraine is similar.

The migraine aura appears about ten to thirty minutes before the headache. Some sufferers can see bright shimmering lights around objects or the edges of the field of vision, others see zig-zag lines or even wavy images. Some see parts of the objects they are looking at disappearing and reappearing. In some cases there can be temporary vision loss.