Increased Risk of Developing Hypertension in Women With Migraine

The risk for hypertension is higher in women with migraine than women without migraine, according to a new prospective cohort study published in Cephalalgia. 

This study included 29,040 women, 5221 of whom reported having a history of migraine. None of the women had hypertension at baseline. Researchers classified subjects into 4 groups: those who reported migraine with aura (n=1516), those who reported migraine without aura (n=2294), those who reported a previous history of migraines (n=1411), and those who reported no history of migraine (n=23,819). 

Researchers followed up with subjects for a mean 12.2 years to monitor for hypertension, which they defined by systolic or diastolic blood pressure values of at least 140 mmHG or 90 mmHG respectively or by clinical diagnosis. They examined the link between migraine and incident hypertension using Cox proportional hazards models. During the follow-up period, there were 15,176 events of incident hypertension. Hypertension was 9% more likely in women who reported migraine with aura (95% CI, 1.02-1.18), 21% more likely in women who reported migraine without aura (95% CI, 1.14-1.28), and 15% more likely in women who reported a previous history of migraine (95% CI, 1.07-1.23) than in the group with no migraine.

Researchers conclude that “[women] with migraine have a higher relative risk of developing hypertension compared to women without migraine.”

Reference

Rist PM, Winter AC, Buring JE, Sesso HD, Kurth T. Migraine and the risk of incident hypertension among women [published online January 1, 2018]. Cephalalgia. doi: 10.1177/0333102418756865