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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Migraine sufferers might have a new reason to drop some pounds. Research shows overweight and obese people are more likely to suffer from these devastating headaches and are also more likely to complain of at least some level of disability due to the condition.
These findings are based on a survey sent to 120,000 households in the United States. People were asked to report their body mass index (BMI) and answer questions about headaches. Nearly 19,000 people were classified as suffering from migraines. About 7,500 were thought to have probable migraines and about 2,000 had another type of headache called severe episodic tension-type headache, or S-ETTH.
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Among people with migraines, the likelihood of having very frequent headaches -- defined as having a headache 10 to 14 days of the month -- went up with BMI. This frequency was seen in 7.4 percent of overweight people, compared to 8.2 percent of obese people and 10.4 percent of those considered morbidly obese. Among normal-weight people, this level of frequency was seen in 6.5 percent.
Disability from migraines followed the same course, ranging from a low of 32 percent among normal-weight people to a high of 40.9 percent for the morbidly obese.
These findings support the concept that obesity is an exacerbating factor for migraine, study authors write.
More than 64 percent of adults in the United States were found to be overweight or obese in a 2000 study.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2007;2007;167:1964-1970
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