Neurological

Migraines related to high blood pressure in menopausal women

HealthDay News – In menopausal women, a history of migraines is associated with high blood pressure. This is according to a study published online April 21 in Neurology.

Conor James MacDonald, Ph.D., from the Gustave Roussy Institute in Villejuif, France, and colleagues investigated whether a history of migraines is associated with high blood pressure in a cohort study of 56,202 menopausal women. Women who did not have high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease at the age of menopause were included.

The researchers identified 12,501 cases of high blood pressure, including 3,100 in women with migraines and 9,401 in women without migraines during 826,419 person-years. In menopausal women, migraines were associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure (hazard ratio for migraines 1.29; 95 percent confidence interval 1.24 to 1.35); The correlation persisted in post-hoc sensitivity analyzes, for example when checking common migraine drugs. Similar correlations were observed between migraines and high blood pressure, regardless of whether women reported aura (hazard ratio for migraines with aura, 1.54) [95 percent confidence interval, 1.04 to 2.30];; Hazard ratio for migraines without aura, 1.32 [95 percent confidence interval, 0.87 to 2.02]). All users of hormone therapy during menopause had somewhat stronger associations than never users (hazard ratio for migraines, 1.34) [95 percent confidence interval, 1.27 to 1.41] versus 1.19 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.11 to 1.28]).

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“Since previous research shows that migraines increase the likelihood of cardiovascular events, identifying additional risk factors such as the higher likelihood of high blood pressure in people with migraines could help individual treatment or prevention,” a co-author said in a statement.

One author announced financial ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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Subjects:

Hypertension Migraines and Headache Pain Women’s Health

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