Why Your Migraine Is a Serious Health Risk
QHHL 
Oct 25 2018
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0 QHHL
Lots of people get migraines these days, but not everyone knows about how this contributes to their health risk. So if you get migraines, here are some connected disorders.
If you get migraines, then you know how painful and troublesome they can be. They come on without warning. They make it difficult for you to go about your daily life. And they may even bring on other problems such as nausea. That’s bad enough, but there is now evidence that migraine could be connected to other diseases. A number of serious health conditions are connected to this problem. So if you suffer from migraines, you need to be aware of how this increases your health risk.
Migraine is one of the most common health conditions in the world, with a global prevalence of about 14.7 percent. It causes debilitating headaches, usually on one side of the head, as well as vision disruptions and nausea. The pain of migraines is far more severe than a normal headache. As a result, sufferers often find it difficult to move around or do anything at all during an attack. There is no commonly accepted cause of migraines, though there seems to be a strong genetic basis. Also, there might be a hormonal connection, as women are three times more likely to suffer from this condition.
There is no known cure for the condition. Because of this, sufferers often rely on over the counter medication, which has a minimal effect. Most of the time, they just have to wait until the attack is over before they can go back to their lives. Until now, little attention was paid to this problem. However, with the recent evidence about the serious health problems linked to migraine, this is likely to change.
If you suffer from migraines, it probably has a serious impact on your life on a regular basis. However, the individual attacks aren’t not usually life threatening. But this doesn’t meant that they’re harmless. Unfortunately, research suggests that migraine may be a health risk factor for Cardiovascular Disease (CVD).
The study examined the health data from 51,032 people with migraine and 510,320 people without. The data showed that people who suffered from migraines had an 80 percent higher risk of ischemic stroke. So for every 1,000 people with migraine, 45 had a stroke. And in the non-migraine group, this number dropped to 25 out of 1,000. Ischemic stroke is the most common type of stroke. It occurs when a blood clot blocks a blood vessel in the brain, cutting off essential blood flow. Within moments of this occurring, the brain tissue starts to die. So it’s clearly a serious situation, and not one that should be ignored if you want to live a full and healthy life.
The migraine group also experienced atrial fibrillation 38 percent more than people without migraine. And the incidence of heart attack was higher too. 25 out of every 1,000 people in the migraine group had a heart attack. This was compared to 17 out of a 1,000 in the non-migraine group.
Taken together, this data would seem to suggest that migraine is a serious health risk factor for CVD. However, there is no evidence at present about the cause and effect relationship between these conditions.
This data is highly significant for anyone who suffers from migraines. It means that you either need to lower your risk of migraines, or your overall risk of CVD. Eliminating migraines is impossible at the current level of knowledge. However, it is possible to eliminate CVD risk factors by making the following changes:
If you can’t reduce your risk of developing CVD, then you need to control your migraine triggers. This will lower your overall health risk. To do this, you need to understand more about migraines. Usually with this condition, there are a combination of factors which bring on an attack. This often includes:
For most people, their migraines are triggered by a combination of these factors. The key is to find your triggers and learn how to better control them. This will reduce your migraine risk and help to decrease your overall health risk.
If you are at higher risk of CVD, try using HomeLab to keep track of your condition and any preventative measures you take. And if you see signs of a significant problem, you should check with your doctor as soon as possible.
Tags: Migraine, health risk.