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Dr. Marks: Women And Migraines

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Jul 18, 2006 5:19 pm US/Eastern

Dr. Marks: Women And Migraines

(CBS)

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Past research has suggested that patients with migraine headaches have an increased risk of stroke. But a new study of almost 28-thousand migraine sufferers shows that women who have migraine with aura also have an increased risk of heart attacks and chest pain. They're also more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than women without migraines.

"This is really the first compelling evidence that theres a link between migraine with aura and heart disease," says Dr. Richard Lipton of Montefiore Headache Center.

So what exactly is an aura? Jessie King, who's had migraines with aura since she was a child, explains, "I lose visual field on the left side, so if I hold my hand up in front of my face I see three fingers, but I dont see the other two. And that's true for if I'm looking at someone in the face, I'll only see about half of their face," An aura can appear like sparkling lights, wavy lines, zig-zags, or vision loss. It lasts about a half an hour. Then the pain starts.

No one's sure why there's a link between migraine with aura and heart disease. The best experts can come up with right now is that there may be some gene predisposing to both conditions So headache experts say people who suffer migraine with aura should focus on controlling other risk factors for heart disease -- as well as treating their pain.

"You should be especially careful about getting high blood pressure and diabetes and high cholesterol treated and not smoking if you have those issues," says Dr. Lipton.

It's important to note: the authors of this study have had financial ties with the makers of Bayer aspirin -- which is often used to prevent heart disease.

The authors deny that's a conflict of interest and stand by their research. Experts say researchers should always disclose any financial ties to industry.