It's well established that women with Migraine disease have a might higher incidence of depression. Among Migraineurs, the prevalence of depression is 47%, much higher than in the general population.

Now a study published in the September 4, 2007, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, childhood abuse is more common in women with Migraine who suffer depression than in women with Migraine alone.

Study author Gretchen Tietjen, MD, commented,

"This study confirms adverse experiences, particularly childhood abuse, predispose women to health problems later in life, possibly by altering neurobiological systems... The finding that a variety of somatic symptoms were also more common in people with Migraine who had a history of abuse suggests that childhood maltreatment may lead to a spectrum of disorders, which have been linked to serotonin dysfunction."

Find out more in Depression in Women with Migraine Linked to Childhood Abuse.

© Teri Robert, 2007