|
(HealthDay
News) -- There may be a silver lining
to the dark cloud of migraines:
improved memory. |
Migraines
May Boost Memory
By
Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter
U.S.
researchers have found that women with
a history of migraines had less cognitive
decline as they aged than women who didn't
have the debilitating headaches.
"This
was a complete surprise," noted study
author Amanda Kalaydjian, a research fellow
at the National Institute of Mental Health.
"We found that people with migraines,
specifically people with migraines with
aura -- which is even more counterintuitive
-- didn't even decline over time at all."
Kalaydjian's
team published its finding in the April
24 issue of Neurology. Her research was
conducted while a doctoral student at
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
Other
experts were similarly surprised by the
finding.
"It's very surprising to me that
this risk factor would appear to be protective,"
said Dr. Richard Lipton, director of the
Montefiore Headache Center. "But
this is the best longitudinal data we
have on migraine, so I am left feeling
cautiously optimistic."
Migraines
are a particularly severe form of headache.
They often occur on one side of the head
and can involve visual disturbances ("aura"),
sensitivity to light, nausea and vomiting.
Migraines can last hours or days.
The
headaches' causes remain elusive, although
dietary and food factors, such as red
wine, may play a role for some people.
Researchers in Philadelphia are even looking
into whether a common heart defect may
play a role in migraine for some individuals.
Thus far, the evidence on migraines and
cognitive functioning had been mixed.
Some studies found no association and
some found that people with migraines
("migraineurs") actually performed
less well in tasks involving attention,
verbal ability and memory.
"Some
[previous studies] showed deficiencies
in people with migraines and some didn't,
but there were a lot of problems with
past studies because they were very small
or clinic-based," Kalaydjian said.
"It's hard to generalize."
There
have been virtually no studies that looked
at people over time, she added.
This
study involved 1,448 women, 204 of who
suffered migraines. All women underwent
a series of cognitive tests beginning
in 1993 and again about 12 years later.
All
of the affected women also had a long
history of migraines. "Our thinking
was . . . maybe, over time, migraines
might result in these subtle insults to
the brain," Kalaydjian explained.
Scientists
have hypothesized that migraine attacks
might have a cumulative effect of damage
to the brain.
The
study didn't show that, however. Migraineurs
did perform worse on cognitive tests (such
as word recall) at the beginning of the
study, but over the course of the entire
study their performance actually declined
17 percent less overall than women without
migraine.
Women
over 50 who had migraines showed the least
amount of cognitive decline, the researchers
noted.
It's
unclear why such a discrepancy would exist
but Kalaydjian says certain medication
and lifestyle characteristics of migraine
sufferers might be worth exploring.
"People
with migraines tend to stay away from
alcohol, so we might have people that
drink less and sleep more, because lack
of sleep results in more headaches,"
she said. "They might take more vitamins
and supplements because they're more health-conscious."
There's
also some research suggesting that non-aspirin
NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory
drug) pain relievers might help boost
cognition. "People with migraines
tend to self-medicate," Kalaydjian
said.
The
first next step, however, is to try to
replicate the findings.
"One
study isn't enough but it lays the groundwork
for future studies," Kalaydjian said.
"It brings up the point that maybe
this is something that should be looked
into, maybe there's a beneficial side
effect of having this pain."
More
information
For more on migraines, visit the National
Migraine Association.
http://www.migraines.org/