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Migraine in Women Not Linked to Risk for Parkinson Disease

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Aug 22, 2024.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Aug. 22, 2024 -- Migraine is not associated with an increased risk for developing Parkinson disease (PD) among women, according to a study published online Aug. 21 in Neurology.

Ricarda S. Schulz, from Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, and colleagues used data from the Women's Health Study involving women aged 45 years and older at baseline (1992 to 1995) to estimate the effect of migraine, migraine subtypes, and migraine episode frequency on the risk for developing PD. A total of 39,312 women were included in the analyses and were followed for self-reported physician-diagnosed PD through Dec. 31, 2021.

The researchers found that 18.6 percent of the women reported any migraine at baseline, and of these women, 5.5, 5.2, and 7.9 percent reported a history of migraine, migraine with aura, and migraine without aura, respectively. A total of 685 PD cases were reported during a mean follow-up of 22.0 years. Of these, 18.7 and 81.3 percent were reported by women who also reported any migraine and those without migraine, respectively. The hazard ratio for the association of any migraine on the risk for PD was not significant after adjusting for confounders (hazard ratio, 1.07; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.88 to 1.29). Furthermore, no significant associations were seen for migraine with aura, migraine without aura, or history of migraine (hazard ratios [95 percent confidence intervals], 0.87 [0.59 to 1.27], 1.21 [0.93 to 1.58], and 1.05 [0.76 to 1.45], respectively).

"In this large prospective study of women in health professions in the United States aged at least 45 years at baseline, we found no association between migraine, migraine aura status, or migraine frequency on the risk of PD," the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

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Posted August 2024

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