Migraine and coronary heart disease in women and men

Nancy R Cook1, Isabela M Benseñor, Paulo A Lotufo

  • 1Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Headache
|October 23, 2002
PubMed

Insights

Migraine does not appear to increase the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) events in women or men. This study found no increased risk for major or total CHD after adjusting for other risk factors.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Neurology
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Migraine is linked to stroke risk, but its association with coronary heart disease (CHD) events is unclear.
  • Conflicting data exist regarding migraine as a predictor of future CHD.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate migraine as an independent risk factor for subsequent coronary heart disease (CHD) events.
  • To evaluate this association in both women (Women's Health Study) and men (Physicians' Health Study).

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of data from the Women's Health Study (WHS) and the Physicians' Health Study (PHS).
  • Primary endpoints included major CHD (nonfatal myocardial infarction or fatal CHD) and total CHD (major CHD plus angina and coronary revascularization).
  • Statistical adjustment for other known CHD risk factors was performed.

Main Results:

  • Migraine was not associated with an increased risk of major CHD in women (RR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.53 to 1.29) or men (RR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.79 to 1.31).
  • No increased risk for total CHD was observed in women (RR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.76 to 1.34) or men (RR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.82 to 1.18).
  • Separate analyses showed no increased risk for myocardial infarction or angina.

Conclusions:

  • Migraine is not associated with an increased risk of subsequent coronary heart disease events in women or men.
  • These findings from large prospective studies suggest migraine is not a predictor of future CHD.
Abstract

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