Migraines Still Can't Cause Heart Attacks, Despite Journalistic Efforts

Today, we report that advanceweb.com reports that The New York Times reports that "Men and women who suffer from migraines are also likely to have risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol."

The only reason for us here to mention this little news-blip is that it doesn't actually report the whole story. As such, it does a great disservice to the esteemed Ann I. Scher, of Bethesda, Md, on whose article in the journal Neurology, Feb. 22 issue, this story is based.

We've talked about it a while back but it stands repeating. This is what Dr. Scher (she's a Ph.D.) actually said:

"We found that people with migraine, particularly the people with aura, did have an increased likelihood of risk factors for cardiovascular disease."

"There is no evidence that people with migraine are at greater risk of having a heart attack. So it's curious that they seem to have these risk factors."

"Why are these people having these risk factors? And what is the role of these risk factors and the risk of migraine, and are they related, and does this explain the connection between heart disease and migraine?"

Condensing scientific ideas into shorter, readable pieces that the rest of us can comprehend is a worth-while pursuit. There is, however, a degree of danger that some important bits of info will be lost in translation. That is why, my gentle readers, we should handle news-releases as we handle our doctors - not be shy to look for a second opinion.

link: Heart Disease Risks Common in Migraine Sufferers
an earlier report published on stmarys.org: Migraines, Heart Disease Share the Risk. Any true link between the two remains unclear, however
original article by yours truly: Migraines Can't Cause Heart Attacks