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By Meghan Yost, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A headache is more than just irritating -- it could also be harmful to your health. New research reveals women who suffer from weekly migraines are more likely to have a stroke than women with fewer or no migraines, while those with less frequent migraines may have a higher chance of suffering a heart attack.
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For 12 years, researchers followed 27,298 women health professionals in the United States, age 45 and older. At the start of the study, none had cerebrovascular disease. The data revealed women who had migraines at least weekly were three times more likely to suffer a stroke, while those who had migraines less than monthly were one-and-a-half times more likely to have a heart attack.
Nobody knows why theres an association with strokes and heart attacks in people who have migraines, Brain Howard Kahn, M.D., F.A.C.C., a cardiologist at the Heart Center at Overlea, an affiliate of Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Md., who was not affiliated with the study, told Ivanhoe. However, he says there is evidence that the standard drugs used to treat migraine headaches carry cardiovascular risks. The medications actually cause constrictions of blood vessels. So if you have a blockage in your arteries, [the medications] constrict the blood vessel further and that can, in fact, precipitate a heart attack.
Dr. Kahn says the take-home message for patients with migraines is they should watch their health closely. I think if they have other risk factors they need to modify those even further. So if youre smoking, you need to stop smoking; if you have high blood pressure, you need to get it under control; if youre diabetic, get your sugars controlled; treat your cholesterol aggressively and exercise.
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SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Brain Howard Kahn, M.D., F.A.C.C.; Presented at the American Academy of Neurology 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 12 - 19, 2008
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
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