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Weather
Conditions Trigger Migraines
(HealthScoutNews)
-- Suffer from migraine headaches? You may want to pay more attention
to the weather report, a new study says.
The heat and
humidity, the cold or a weather front moving through can all trigger
the headaches, says neurologist Dr. Alan Rapoport, director and
founder of The New England Center for Headache in Stamford, Conn.
About 30 million Americans have migraines, which is a severe kind
of headache that can virtually immobilize a person.
"Patients
don't really understand if weather is a factor," says Rapoport,
the study's co-author. "We were very surprised when we asked patients
in advance if they think weather affects them -- 85 percent did.
Yet, our study showed only 51 percent were affected."
Even though
the "many patients who think they are sensitive to weather aren't,
that [51 percent] is still a significant number," adds Rapoport.
The research
team followed 77 patients for an average of 11 months, having
them keep track, three times a day, whether or not they had a
headache, and the pain level on a scale of zero (no headache)
to 3 (the worst headache.)
The researchers
then analyzed government weather data and looked for correlations:
- Twenty-two
percent of the patients were sensitive to low temperatures and
low humidity;
- 12 percent
had migraines triggered by high temperatures and high humidity;
- A passing
front or otherwise-changing weather pattern affected 10 percent;
sensitivity to high barometric pressure affected 8 percent,
and low pressure affected 5 percent.
"For many
years, we have known that weather changes can act as triggers
for migraine attacks," says Dr. Seymour Diamond, director and
founder of the National Headache Foundation. However, he adds,
"previous studies have shown that barometric pressure changes,
rather than the combination of low humidity and cold weather are
responsible."
"Many factors
have to be considered in the genesis of migraine headache," adds
Dr. Jerome Goldstein, director of the San Francisco Clinical Research
Center and Headache Clinic. "Because migraine headache is a multifactorial
process with a genetic propensity, conditions such as weather,
allergies, stress, menstrual flow, food and alcohol [to name a
few] can either trigger or make migraine headaches worse."
As a follow-up,
Goldstein suggests a study to compare the weather findings "to
folks who have migraine headache primarily when in an airplane
or those who ascend the Western Mountain regions in a few hours.
These would certainly add validity to this report." These conditions
would mean a rapid change to low barometric pressure, possible
low temperatures and low humidity.
Rapoport adds
that, although many other things can trigger migraines, he's confident
the wealth of data available and the length of the study is enough
to cancel out other variables.
"We don't
know what [it] is in the weather yet," says Rapoport. "We think
it is related to brain function, perhaps changes in the receptors
that monitor brain function or temperature of the blood, but it's
pure speculation."
"We're only
beginning to know the weather pattern," he adds. This data "will
help us analyze what factors make patients sensitive and what
forms of treatment are best for the weather patterns."
The results
of the study are being presented this week at the 10th International
Headache Congress, of the International Headache Society.
What To
Do
Not all headaches
are migraines. Before medicating for the pain, check with your
doctor and get a complete workup. "Seek medical consultation when
a headache problem is new or an older headache problem is increasing
in severity or when a headache problem is accompanied by new symptoms,"
says Goldstein.
If your headaches
are frequent, try to figure out what may be triggering them. Keep
a diary of what foods you eat, your moods, what you were doing
when the pain began
And don't
forget a weather diary. "Every day the patient should write down
whatever they think is very important, the weather conditions,
the temperature, the humidity, the absolute barometer pressure
and the direction the barometer is going in," says Rapoport. "Then,
look back over the last three to four months and see if you can
pick out a pattern," and take it to your doctor.
Get more information
about migraine headaches from the
National Migraine Association or the
National Headache Foundation.
Learn the
language of headache with the
migraine glossary.
Reference
Source 101
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