Migraines in Women Linked to Heart Attack, Blood Clots
A preview of studies to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 65th Annual Meeting in March indicates that women who have migraines with aura may be at increased risk for blood clots. Two studies that will be presented at the meeting have shown a link between the conditions.
The first study, by Kurth and colleagues, used data from more than 27,000 women in The Women’s Health Study. During the 15-year study, 1,435 women had migraine with aura and 1,030 women had heart attack, stroke, or death from cardiovascular disease. After high blood pressure, migraine with aura was the second leading cause of heart attack and stroke.
The second study, by Joshi and colleagues, looked at women with migraine who are also taking hormonal contraceptives. This study found that women with migraine with aura were more likely to have experienced a blood clot complication, such as deep vein thrombosis, with all types of contraceptives compared with women who have migraine without aura.
Read the abstracts here and here.
