Neurology®
The most widely read and highly cited peer-reviewed Neurology journal
Quick Search
Advanced Search
Published online before print June 24, 2009, doi:10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181ab2c20)
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Podcast
Right arrow Korean Translation
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
WNL.0b013e3181ab2c20v1
73/8/581    most recent
Right arrow Correspondence:
Submit a response
Right arrow Correspondence:
View responses
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when Correspondence are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow My Folders
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kurth, T.
Right arrow Articles by Buring, J. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kurth, T.
Right arrow Articles by Buring, J. E.
Related Collections
Right arrowRelated Article
NEUROLOGY 2009;73:581-588
© 2009 American Academy of Neurology

Migraine frequency and risk of cardiovascular disease in women

Tobias Kurth, MD, ScD, Markus Schürks, MD, MSc, Giancarlo Logroscino, MD, PhD and Julie E. Buring, ScD

From the Division of Preventive Medicine (T.K., M.S., J.E.B.), Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston; Department of Epidemiology (T.K., J.E.B.), Harvard School of Public Health, Boston; INSERM Unit 708–Neuroepidemiology (T.K.) and University Pierre et Marie Curie (T.K.), Paris, France; and the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry (G.L.), School of Medicine, University of Bari, Italy.

Address correspondence to Dr. Tobias Kurth, INSERM Unit 708–Neuroepidemiology, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47 Boulevard de l’Hôpital, 75651 Paris Cedex 13, France tkurth{at}rics.bwh.harvard.edu

Background: Migraine has been associated with risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Data on the association between migraine frequency and CVD are sparse.

Methods: Prospective cohort study of 27,798 US women aged ≥45 years, who were free of CVD, and for whom we had information on lipids and migraine frequency. We categorized migraine frequency as < monthly, monthly, and ≥ weekly. Incident CVD was confirmed after medical record review.

Results: Of the 3,568 women with active migraine at baseline, 75.3% reported a migraine frequency of < monthly, 19.7% monthly, and 5.0% ≥ weekly. During 11.9 years of follow-up, 706 CVD events occurred. Compared with women without migraine, the multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) (95% confidence intervals) among active migraineurs for CVD were 1.55 (1.22–1.97), 0.65 (0.31–1.38), and 1.93 (0.86–4.33) for an attack frequency of < monthly, monthly, and ≥ weekly, respectively. The association between migraine frequency and CVD was only apparent among migraineurs with aura. Among those, the multivariable-adjusted HRs for women with a migraine frequency < monthly ranged from 1.81 (1.30–2.50) for coronary revascularizations to 2.43 (1.58–3.74) for myocardial infarction. For women with active migraine with aura and migraine frequencies of ≥ weekly, we only found significant increased risk of ischemic stroke (HR = 4.25 [1.36–13.29]).

Conclusions: In our data, the association between migraine and cardiovascular disease varies by migraine frequency. Significant associations were only found among women with migraine with aura. Ischemic stroke was the only outcome associated with a high-attack frequency while a low-attack frequency was associated with any vascular event. Low number of outcome events should caution the interpretation.

Abbreviations: CI = confidence interval; CVD = cardiovascular disease; HR = hazard ratio; MI = myocardial infarction; WHS = Women’s Health Study.

Editorial, page 576

e-Pub ahead of print on June 24, 2009, at www.neurology.org.

The Women’s Health Study is supported by grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL-043851 and HL-080467) and the National Cancer Institute (CA-47988). The research for this work was supported by grants from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, the Leducq Foundation, and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The sponsors of the study played no role in design or conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, or interpretation of the data; or preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.

Disclosure: Author disclosures are provided at the end of the article.

Received December 3, 2008. Accepted in final form April 6, 2009.


Related Article

Migraine and risk of cardiovascular disease in women: Learning about relative and absolute risk
Hans-Christoph Diener and Christopher A. Beck
Neurology 2009 73: 576-577. [Full Text] [PDF]



This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 CephalalgiaHome page
E. Loder
Design considerations in migraine with aura trials: Learning from experience
Cephalalgia, September 1, 2010; 30(9): 1027 - 1028.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 CephalalgiaHome page
A. W. Hauge, A. Hougaard, and J. Olesen
On the methodology of drug trials in migraine with aura
Cephalalgia, September 1, 2010; 30(9): 1041 - 1048.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 BMJHome page
L. S. Gudmundsson, A. I. Scher, T. Aspelund, J. H. Eliasson, M. Johannsson, G. Thorgeirsson, L. Launer, and V. Gudnason
Migraine with aura and risk of cardiovascular and all cause mortality in men and women: prospective cohort study
BMJ, August 24, 2010; 341(aug24_1): c3966 - c3966.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 CephalalgiaHome page
F. Cutrer
Clinical translation: Targeting cortical spreading depression
Cephalalgia, May 1, 2010; 30(5): 515 - 516.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 NeurologyHome page
J. M. Gordon, T. Kurth, and M. Schurks
MIGRAINE FREQUENCY AND RISK OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE IN WOMEN
Neurology, February 16, 2010; 74(7): 615 - 616.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 BMJHome page
E. Loder
Migraine with aura and increased risk of ischaemic stroke
BMJ, October 27, 2009; 339(oct27_1): b4380 - b4380.
[Full Text]

Home page
 NeurologyHome page
E. Klein and D. Spencer
Migraine frequency and risk of cardiovascular disease in women
Neurology, August 25, 2009; 73(8): e42 - e43.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 NeurologyHome page
H.-C. Diener and C. A. Beck
Migraine and risk of cardiovascular disease in women: Learning about relative and absolute risk
Neurology, August 25, 2009; 73(8): 576 - 577.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Correspondence:

Read all Correspondence

Migraine frequency and risk of cardiovascular disease in women
James M. Gordon
Neurology Online, 2 Sep 2009 [Full text]
Reply from the authors
Tobias Kurth, et al.
Neurology Online, 2 Sep 2009 [Full text]