Gene Variation Related to Heart Attack and Stroke Risk Factors in Women Suffering from Migraine with Aura is Identified

"Women suffering from migraine with aura who also tested positive for a specific gene variant had more than three times the risk of cardiovascular disease and four times the risk of stroke than women without migraines or the gene variant. The gene variation was in the methyleneterahydrofolate reductase gene." (Ed. note - correct spelling of the name of the gene needs to be verified.)

This is from a recent study conducted by Dr. Tobias Kurth, M.D., Sc.D., with Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Says Dr. Kurth - "This gene by itself does not appear to increase the risk for overall and for specific cardiovascular disease, but rather this research suggests a possible connection between the gene variant and migraine with aura."

Good doctor is not yet proposing that clinics start testing young women suffering from migraine with aura for this gene variation.

But he does advice young women who experience migraine with aura not to smoke and to consider birth control pill alternatives. These two factors play a major role in increasing a risk of developing a cardiovascular disease and stroke later in life.

This is a continuation on his research on the connection between migraine and the risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease in women. In 2005 Dr. Kurth and colleagues published a paper that explored the common-knowledge supposition that migraine and headache in general have been associated with subsequent risk of stroke.

The conclusion was - "In these prospective data, migraine was not associated with total, ischemic, or hemorrhagic stroke. In subgroup analyses, we found increased risks of total and ischemic stroke for migraineurs with aura. The absolute risk increase was, however, low, with 3.8 additional cases per year per 10,000 women."

These findings somewhat correspond with research of Ann I. Scher of Department of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics at the USU in Bethesda. "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," she was quoted saying.

The above studies might possibly be explained by the resent advances in research of genetic expression. We can carry genes that make us predisposed to a specific disease. However, not all genes in a cell are active at any given time. Gene action can be switched on or off in response to the cell's stage of development and external environment.

To put it simply, if we allow ourselves to get too overweight, eat high-cholesterol food, don't exercise, etc, we could activate the gene that will lead to heart disease and/or stroke.

On the other hand, if we try to stay generally healthy (migraines non-withstanding), watch what we eat, take a bit of walk once in a while, we just might escape having that particular unpleasantness.

So, my gentle readers, start turning off those genetic switches. We already have the mother of all headaches to nurse (not to mention all the ills that accompany it). There's no reason to collect a bunch of new health problems along the way if we can help it.


link: Warning for Migraine With Aura

link: Migraine, headache, and the risk of stroke in women

related articles:

Fat waist equals stroke, more so in migraine patients

Migraines Can't Cause Heart Attacks

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

Practicing Relaxation Positively Influence Human Bodies on a Genetic Level