Parkinson’s Risk in Women and History of Migraine: New Data

TOPLINE:

A history of migraine is not associated with an elevated risk for Parkinson’s disease (PD) in women, regardless of headache frequency or migraine subtype, a new study suggests.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers analyzed data on 39,312 women health professionals aged ≥ 45 years and no history of PD who enrolled in the Women’s Health Study between 1992-1995 and were followed until 2021.
• At baseline, 7321 women (18.6%) had migraine.
• Mean follow-up duration was 22 years.
• The primary outcome was a self-reported physician-confirmed diagnosis of PD.

TAKEAWAY:

• During the study period, 685 women self-reported a diagnosis of PD.
• Among those, 18.7% of cases were in women with any migraine vs 81.3% in women without migraine.
• No significant association was found between PD risk and a history of migraine, migraine subtypes (with or without aura), or migraine frequency.
• Migraine was not associated with a higher risk for PD than nonmigraine headaches.

IN PRACTICE:

“These results are reassuring for women who have migraine, which itself causes many burdens, that they don’t have to worry about an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease in the future,” study author Tobias Kurth, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany, said in a press release.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Ricarda S. Schulz, MSc, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. It was published online on August 21 in Neurology.

LIMITATIONS:

The study’s findings may not be generalizable to other populations, such as men and non-White individuals. The self-reported data on migraine and PD may be subject to inaccuracies. PD is often not diagnosed until symptoms have reached an advanced stage, potentially leading to cases being underreported. Changes in the status and frequency of migraine over the study period were not accounted for, which may have affected the results.

DISCLOSURES:

The authors did not disclose any specific funding for this work. The Women’s Health Study was supported by the National Cancer Institute and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Two authors reported having financial ties outside this work. Full disclosures are available in the original article.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.