If you develop high blood pressure condition, Hypertension, you are less likely to have migraine headaches, claims Erling Tronvik, MD, a Norwegian science-type from National Headache Center at Trondheim University Hospital in Trondheim.
Here's some a background info on the subject (skip it if you are a know-it-all). Blood pressure that doctors measure is an arterial pressure. There is the systolic arterial pressure - the peak pressure in the arteries; the diastolic pressure - the lowest pressure; and there's the pulse pressure that is the difference between the maximum and minimum pressures measured.
Another useful bit to know is that there's a mechanism to regulate the blood pressure named baroreceptor reflex or baroreflex, as it's known to friends. The way it works is too sciency to describe; all we need to know for this exercise in futility is that it's a reflex (kinda like you'd go "ahhhh" when you see a cute kitten) and it works (because we don't seem to explode from the inside out too often).
Back to the "study in red".
"People with higher systolic blood pressure were up to 40 percent less likely to have a headache or migraine compared to people with healthier blood pressure rates. At the same time higher pulse pressure was linked to up to a 50-percent reduction in the amount of headache and migraine."
Dr. Tronvik thinks that the reduction in headaches is related to stiff arteries that people with hypertension develop. The stiff arteries affect baroreflex arch (see above, reflex, kittens, etc.) That, in turn, can lead to hypoalgesia, a condition that makes a person less sensitive to pain.
Seems like a round-about way to get rid of the migraines, especially with the chance of success being only 50/50. On a plus side, "Increasing blood pressure is linked to decreasing amounts of chronic pain in all parts of the body". Isn't that a cure-it-all... Wonder how many cups of coffee one needs to drink to develop hypertension?
link: High Blood Pressure May Protect Against Migraine
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