Migraines Can Cause Brain Changes Recent Study Finds

By Simon Fishman, MD

Anyone who suffers from migraines or lives with a migraine, knows that migraines are notorious for interrupting those day-to-day plans that most of us take for granted. The combination of head pain, nausea, dizziness, and sensitivity to lights can be extremely debilitating.

In the U.S. alone, 18 percent of women and 6 percent of men (approximately 36 million people) suffer from migraines. Head pain is one of the most common reasons patients visit their doctors. It also cost the U.S. economy more than $23 billion annually in lost productivity.

Certainly, not all headaches are migraines, though not all migraine types include head pain. When it is present, migraine pain usually occurs on one side of the head. This pain is often described as throbbing, aching, shooting, or stabbing, and lasts from 4-72 hours. Additional symptoms include changes in vision, sensitivity to lights and sounds, nausea, spinning/vertigo, and sudden need to go to sleep. The visual components may present with flashing lights, loss of vision, formed/colored shapes, or zig

zagging lines.

The social and economic impact of migraines has been well documented for many years. Now, there is appears to be evidence that migraines may also have long-lasting effects on the brain's structure. According to a study recently published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, those with migraines have a higher rate of brain lesion, white matter abnormalities, and brain volume reduction on MRIs when compared to people without the disorder. The association was even stronger in those who suffer from migraines with auras.

“Traditionally, migraine has been considered a benign disorder without long-term consequences for the brain,” said study author Messoud Ashina, MD, PhD, with the University of Copenhagen. “Our review and meta-analysis study suggests that the disorder may permanently alter brain structure in multiple ways.”

For this new study, the University of Copenhagen researchers reviewed six population-based studies and 13 clinic-based studies to see whether people who experienced migraines or migraines with auras had an increased risk of brain changes.

The results showed that patients who suffer from migraines with aura were associated with a 68 percent increased risk of white matter brain lesions, and migraine suffers without aura had an increased risk of 34 percent, compared to those without migraine. The risk for infarct-like abnormalities increased by 44 percent for those experiencing migraine with aura, compared to those without aura. Brain volume changes were more common in people with migraine with aura than those with no migraines.

While the outcomes of the brain changes possibly caused by migraines are unclear, previous studies have linked migraines to a potential increased risk of stroke.

Generally speaking, this study underscores the need for migraine sufferers to be in frequent contact with their neurologists to develop and maintain treatment plans that lessen the risk and frequency of migraine attacks.