NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Women with migraines during pregnancy are at increased risk for stroke, MI, and other vascular disorders, according to a report in the March 9th online issue of the British Medical Journal.
“Migraines, particularly those associated with an aura or visual changes around the time of the headache, have been previously linked to stroke and heart disease in women. This study further validates the association between the two,” lead author Dr. Cheryl Bushnell, from Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, said in a statement.
The study involved an analysis of data for over 18 million pregnancy-related discharges from the nationwide inpatient sample of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
The rate of migraine was 185 per 100,000 deliveries, the researchers found.
Migraine was associated with increased risks of stroke (odds ratio15.05), MI/heart disease (OR 2.11), pulmonary embolism/venous thromboembolism (OR 3.23), hypertension (OR 8.61), preeclampsia/gestational hypertension (OR 2.29), smoking (OR 2.85), and diabetes (OR 1.96).
By contrast, migraine did not appear to increase the risk of non-vascular diagnoses, such as pneumonia.
Further studies are needed, the authors note, to determine whether migraine actually causes the conditions identified. If so, the next step would be to assess the efficacy of various migraine treatments in preventing vascular complications during pregnancy.
Meanwhile, they advise, "For pregnant women admitted to hospital with active migraines, modifiable cardiovascular risk factors and complications of pregnancy such as pre-eclampsia, should be recognised and treated."
Reference:
BMJ 2009.
|
2998 Views
25028 Views