Migraines Linked to Risk of Heart Attacks

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Migraines Linked to Risk of Heart Attacks

_http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com/alerts/heart_health/migraines-heart

-attack_5887-1.html?zkPrintable=true_

(http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com/alerts/heart_health/migraines-heart-att\

ack_5887-1.html?zkPrintable=true)

According to a study reported in the journal Neurology (Volume 74, page

628) _migraine sufferers_

(http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com/symptoms_remedies/healthy_living/2394-1\

..html) are two to three times more likely to

have a _heart attack_

(http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com/symptoms_remedies/heart_attack/83-1.htm\

l) than people without these headaches.

Researchers posed questions about headaches, cardiovascular risk factors

and cardiovascular events to 6,000 migraine sufferers and 5,000 people

without migraine.

Migraines both with and without aura (visual disturbances like flashing

lights that can precede a migraine) were associated with an increased risk of

heart attacks. Migraine with aura was also associated with stroke and

claudication (leg pain while walking due to arterial disease), while migraine

without aura was also associated with claudication but not _stroke_

(http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com/symptoms_remedies/stroke/101-1.html) .

The

increased risks remained significant even after taking into account other

heart risk factors such as _diabetes_

(http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com/symptoms_remedies/diabetes_mellitus/86-\

1.html) , _high blood pressure_

(http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com/symptoms_remedies/hypertension/92-1.h

tml) , and high cholesterol.

Although the study suggests a link between migraines and cardiovascular

disease, the number of events was small -- only 4 percent of migraine

sufferers had a heart attack and 2 percent had a stroke. Still, if you suffer

from

migraine headaches you may want to take extra steps, such as quitting

smoking, exercising, eating a healthier diet, and taking any prescribed

medications, to reduce your risk of a heart attack or stroke.

Posted in _Heart Health_

(http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com/alerts/heart_health/) on January 6,

2012