Study results
- Of the 20,084 participants, a total of 1,449 (7%) men reported Migraine, and 434 reported Migraine 4 or more times.
- Compared to men who did not report Migraine, Migraineurs were:
- Younger
- Reported more often a history of hypertension
- Were less Likely to currently smoke cigarettes and consume alcohol regularly
- Were more likely to report a history of elevated cholesterol of 240mg/dL or higher.
- CVD events during follow-up:
- 2,236 major CVD
- 750 ischemic strokes
- 1,046 myocardial infarctions (heart attacks)
- 866 ischemic CVD deaths
- 2,257 coronary revascularizations
- 2,625 reports of angina
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Risk of major cardiovascular events in men with Migraines was increased by 24% with myocardial infarction (heart attack) as the leading reported cardiovascular event. It's important, however, to realize that this 24% increase translates to just two major CVD events per 10,000 men per year.
Study conclusions
Kurth and his colleagues concluded,
"In this large prospective cohort of apparently healthy men, Migraine was associated with risk of major CVD, which was driven by an increased risk of myocardial infarction."
In his presentation to the American Heart Association, Kurth said,
"The attributable risk is fairly low, so I think people should certainly not panic if they have a Migraine attack that they’ll have a heart attack the next day. We know much more about major risk factors and we should certainly emphasize and modify those. At this point, there’s no data that would support to change any treatment of Migraine or anything else for Migraineurs at this point."
Summary
The results of this study were very similar to Kurth et al's study of Migraine and cardiovascular disease in women. As in the women's study, the exact mechanisms linking Migraine disease and CVD are unclear and unlikely to be simple. The correlation could be due to an increased cardiovascular risk profile, inflammatory issues, genetics, or a combination of these issues.
This study provides incentive for patients and physicians to be more vigilant about modifiable cardiovascular risk factors and for studies to determine if there are medications that can be used to prevent Migraine attacks and reduce CVD risk. If you have Migraine disease, this is a topic to discuss with your doctor as modifying your risk factors can help prevent cardiovascular problems.
