Though older studies have found a link between Parkinson’s disease and migraine, a new study doesn’t confirm that link in women.
The report was published Wednesday in Neurology.
Investigators evaluated over 39,000 women with an average age of 55. More than 7,000 of them reported that they currently experience migraines or had in the past. Researchers followed the women for an average of 22 years. During that time, 685 of the women were diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Of those diagnosed with the disease, 128 had a history of migraine or current migraines, and 557 never experienced them.
After adjusting for other factors that could have an impact on their Parkinson’s and migraine risks (such as age, alcohol use, physical activity, or smoking status), the team concluded that those with migraine weren’t more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease compared to those without it. And that conclusion didn’t change based on how often the women experienced migraine, or whether they had an aura before the migraine began. (An aura is a visual or sensory disturbance, like the appearance of bright lights, that can happen before a migraine sets in.)
“These results are reassuring for women who have migraine, which itself causes many burdens, that they don’t have to worry about an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease in the future,” Tobias Kurth, MD, a researcher from the Institute of Public Health at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin in Germany, and also the study author, said in a statement.
“Since this study involved only female health professionals who were primarily white people, more research is needed to determine whether the results will apply to other groups, including men, women and other races, ethnicities and gender identities,” Kurth said.
The team pointed out other limitations of their research. The information on the presence of both migraine and Parkinson’s disease was self-reported, which could affect accuracy. Also, some people may have gone on to develop Parkinson’s after the study period concluded, because the disease often isn’t diagnosed until symptoms are more prominent and the disease is at an advanced stage.
