Association, Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome and Migraine in Women

The following article is part of conference coverage from the 2019 American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting (AAN 2019) in Philadelphia, PA. Neurology Advisor’s staff will be reporting breaking news associated with research conducted by leading experts in neurology. Check back for the latest news from AAN 2019.

PHILADELPHIA — An association between migraine and metabolic syndrome was observed only in women with a past history of migraine and not in women who were actively experiencing migraine with aura, according to study results presented at the 2019 American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, May 4-10, in Philadelphia.

Pamela Rist, ScD, of Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the association between migraine and prevalence of metabolic syndrome in women. Women included in the analysis were participants from the Women’s Health Study. Participants were then classified into 3 categories, having active migraine (with and without aura), past history of migraine, or no history of migraine. Women were considered to have metabolic syndrome if participants met ≥3 of the following characteristics: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol <50 mg/dL, triglycerides ≥150 mg/dL, had hypertension, body mass index >26.7 kg/m², glycated hemoglobin ≥5.7, or physician diagnosis of diabetes.. Data were analyzed using logistic regression models.

A total of 28,036 women were included in the final analysis; of these, 6887 had prevalent metabolic syndrome, 3638 reported active migraine, and 1529 reported a past history of migraine. After multivariable adjustment, investigators determined that women had a 1.22 (95% CI, 1.08-1.37) odds of having metabolic syndrome if they had a past history of migraine compared with no history of migraine. Women who had experienced active migraine had no significant increase in odds of metabolic syndrome (odds ratio [OR] 1.06; 95% CI, 0.98-1.16). The association was driven by women with active migraine without aura (OR 1.10; 95% CI, 0.99-1.22). There was no association observed between women with active migraine and metabolic syndrome (OR,1.01; 95% CI, 0.89-1.15).

Investigators concluded that the “association between migraine and metabolic syndrome is limited to those with a past history of migraine and is not observed among those experiencing active migraine with aura.”

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Reference

Rist P, Buring J, Chasman D, Kurth T. Migraine and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among women. Poster presented at: 2019 American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting; May 8, 2019; Philadelphia, PA.

This article originally appeared on Neurology Advisor