'Crucial step made in migraine research'

[Hutan]

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/national/qld/2016/06/21/crucial-step-made-in-migraine-research.html
Tuesday, 21 June 2016

The world's largest study of migraines co-led by an Australian researcher, published in Nature Genetics, has discovered dozens of new genes linked to their onset.
...

Queensland University of Technology's Associate Professor Dale Nyholt, who co-led the study that involved 60,000 patients, says they have taken a crucial step to uncovering the biological causes of migraine through the use of genetics.

Researchers have identified 44 independent DNA variants robustly associated with migraine risk that mapped to 38 distinct genes, including 28 not previously reported.

What the findings indicate is that vascular dysfunction is a primary underlying cause of migraine, not brain dysfunction.

'Although it remains likely that neurogenic mechanisms are also involved in migraine, the vascular finding is consistent with known comorbidities and previously reported shared genetic risk among migraine, stroke, and cardiovascular diseases,' Dr Nyholt said.
...

Dr Nyholt says the hope is that the new research will lead to the re-purposing of existing drugs that can target vascular dysfunction to treat migraine.

 

[Snow Leopard]

I can't find the exact study in question, but some 2016 papers from that author:

http://journals.lww.com/co-neurolog...ide_association_studies_in_migraine__.16.aspx
http://cep.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/02/09/0333102416628463.abstract
http://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/abs/10.2217/pme-2016-0015?journalCode=pme

Some high-powered gene expressions studies - can only dream of something like this for ME!
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00439-016-1638-x

 

[Keela Too]

Ah now that would be nice. I've been plagued with occasional, but severe migraines since I was a child. Recently I've had a bit of an extended cluster of them. Even went and got one of those daith ear piercings - which may have helped a bit, but who can be sure!

As to the genetic component... my grandfather also suffered, but not my parents or siblings.

 

[Hutan]

Here's the link to the interview audio of Associate Professor Dale Nyholt on Radio National NZ.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/p...tic-study-finds-underlying-cause-of-migraines
(edited to make the link better, thanks @Sasha)
It's 10 minutes long.

I think it is worth a listen if you get migraines - it adds to the information given in the article.

At one point Nyholt suggests inflammation in the brain could be a cause along with the genetic susceptibility to vascular problems. He also later mentions as an example, a type of migraine that 'gets worse' (becomes more frequent? more severe?) with 'routine physical activity'.

(My two children got their first migraines soon after they got ME. My migraines started when I had ME as a child and have become more frequent with this latest occurrence/relapse.)

 

[ryan31337]

He also later mentions as an example, a type of migraine that 'gets worse' (becomes more frequent? more severe?) with 'routine physical activity'.
(My two children got their first migraines soon after they got ME. My migraines started when I had ME as a child and have become more frequent with this latest occurrence/relapse.)

Same here. Out of interest, do you get a migraine 'hangover' the day after? Big hit of muscle weakness, sleepiness and fatigue.

Initially I thought it was just side effects of migraine meds and/or vomiting half a dozen times or more. But now later in life I don't get migraines as severely but still suffer the crushing fatigue the next day.

 

[Effi]

@ryan31337 A migraine hangover is the standard for me. Feels pretty close to an alcohol hangover sometimes. Interesting thing: in the beginning of my ME I would have endless days with that migraine type hangover, but without the migraine itself. Aura without migraine is what they call that sometimes. The migraine bouts have been a lot less frequent lately, but I have no idea why.

 

[Richard7]

@ryan31337 pre CFS/ME if I got that sort of typical 3 day migraine, on the 4th day my body felt sort of unfamiliar. I would have trouble getting the right series of muscle contractions (or whatever) to walk properly and have trouble using a knife and fork, or even knife, butter and piece of toast.

So there was a problem with muscle control, I think energy my muscles did not seem to want to move quickly, and I think a kind of brain fog. I also found that it took a long time for my vision to get back to normal.

so I guess you can add me to the list. Never called it a migraine hangover though. Other people's hangover symptoms always sounded like a migraine to me, which would I guess make it a hangover hangover.

 

[Hutan]

Yes, me too for the migraine hangover. I definitely feel fatigued and drained after a migraine. I typically get a migraine as part of PEM, so it all sort of merges in to one big bleh.

 

[mermaid]

Yes I get the migraine hangover also. Have had one today actually, though most are migraine aura without much pain.

I thought I had made a breakthrough recently by addressing blood sugar issues but it seems not, though they are fewer I think so far. My migraine aura increased when I developed ME - didn't have many before that....so over the past 10 years or so then and I'm now 64.

My father died of a stroke (at 85) so that has always worried me a bit as I know there is a link with migraine to that. I sometimes get the aura in one eye also which I gather is different and comes from a different place - retinal migraine. It's always the same eye.

 

[Sasha]

Here's the link to the interview audio of Associate Professor Dale Nyholt on Radio National NZ.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon

Thanks for this - this is the specific link to that interview (would you like to edit it into your post?).

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/p...tic-study-finds-underlying-cause-of-migraines

 

[ryan31337]

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

made a breakthrough recently by addressing blood sugar issues

Same here, I've found eating a snack right before bed limits the frequency of 6am wake-up migraine. Skipping a meal and over-exerting is usually a good way for me to trigger a rarer evening onset too.

So there was a problem with muscle control

Also something I have found, though not usually during the acute phase (or maybe I just don't notice because I'm moving like a zombie!)

I sometimes get the aura in one eye also

This is something I've only had a few times compared to hundreds of 'normal' migraine. In my experience its only happened on very hot days after exercise and is over pretty quickly with minimal pain and fatigue.

In adolescence my migraine were absolutely obvious, always very acute and followed a standard 3 day pattern: day 1 PM mood changes, day 2 wake up with full blown migraine, day 3 fatigue. Now on their return they are much less severe and more ambiguous, often I can't even tell I'm having a migraine and wonder why I'm so clumsy (@Richard7 throwing the knife around whilst buttering toast, been there!), can't see straight or have abnormal energy/fatigue. Then the headache behind the left eye comes on a day or two later and I'm like, ohhh... right.

Interestingly, the more drawn out the migraine seems to be the less hangover I get. In fact sometimes it feels like the opposite, fatigue and symptoms build and build for days or weeks and then after the final headache has gone I feel a dramatic improvement. I guess we experience different migraines with different triggers/pathways.

 

[pattismith]

What the findings indicate is that vascular dysfunction is a primary underlying cause of migraine, not brain dysfunction.

'Although it remains likely that neurogenic mechanisms are also involved in migraine, the vascular finding is consistent with known comorbidities and previously reported shared genetic risk among migraine, stroke, and cardiovascular diseases,' Dr Nyholt said.
Tuesday, 21 June 2016

Migraine has some cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy feature, just like ME/CFS.

EVALUATION OF CARDIOVASCULAR AUTONOMIC FUNCTIONS IN MIGRAINE INDIVIDUALS IN TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL
2020

Abstract


Introduction:
Migraine is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent disabling attacks of a headache with heterogeneous characterized by headache and hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli. Migraine attacks can depend upon from multitude of causative factors like diet, stress, fatigue, environmental changes and hormonal changes among others. It causes painful condition where individuals suffer from recurrent episodes of headache, which could be very severe. Pain sensations are discerned at various levels of the nervous system. Migraine as one of the top 20 leading neurological causes of disability according to WHO. About 12% of world’s population suffers from migraine and in India about of 1200 million populations there are 150-200 million migraineurs under treatment. About 20% in females and 6% in males has prevalence of migraine. Migraine is define as a heterogeneous disorder where there is variation in attacks in duration, frequency, severity, character and associated with physical and emotional disability. There is anxiety and panic disorder with sympathetic over activity with stress being the most important triggering factor. Migraine is also associated with ischemic stroke. Autonomic nervous system (ANS) plays central role in the cascade of events leading to migraine attack.

Aim:
The main aim of this study is to testing migraine on cardiac autonomic functions and finding the sympathetic or parasympathetic dysfunction in the heart that relates with the pathogenesis of migraine.



Conclusion:

Evaluation of cardiovascular functions in migraine reveals sympathetic hypofunction with an intact parasympathetic activity which as indicated by a significant reduction of sympathetic modulation of RR intervals.

Better understanding of the role of sympathetic function and its dysfunction may help to prevent or successfully treat migraine and other headaches.