Migraine frequency linked to stroke

BOSTON, April 21 (UPI) -- Women with weekly migraines were three times more likely to have a stroke, a U.S. study found.

The study also found women with less than monthly migraines were one-and-a half times more likely to have a heart attack.

"Our findings suggest that migraine frequency may be an indicator for increased risk of cardiovascular disease, particularly ischemic stroke," study author Dr. Tobias Kurth of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston said in a statement. "Future studies are needed to address whether migraine prevention reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease."

The study was based on data from the Women's Health Study involving 27,798 women health professionals in the United States -- age 45 and older-- who did not have cerebrovascular disease at the beginning of the study. During the 12 years of the study, 706 cerebrovascular events, 305 heart attacks, and 310 ischemic strokes occurred.

Of the 3,568 women with migraine at the start of the study, 65 percent reported migraine less than once a month, 30 percent reported one migraine a month and five percent reported at least weekly migraine.

The research findings were presented at the American Academy of Neurology 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Chicago.