EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 PM ET, February 16, 2010
Migraine More Common in Women with MS
ST. PAUL, Minn. -
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2010 Media Contacts: Rachel Seroka, rseroka@aan.com, (651) 695-2738 Angela Babb, ababb@aan.com, (651) 695-2789 Migraine More Common in Women with MS ST. PAUL, Minn. 鈥 Migraine is seen more frequently in women with multiple sclerosis (MS) than those without, according to a study released today that will be presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto April 10 to April 17, 2010. 鈥淲hile having a history of migraine diagnosis was linked to MS, women with migraine need to know that over 99 percent of them will never develop MS, thus having migraine should definitely not be a reason to worry about getting MS,鈥 said study author Ilya Kister, MD, with New York University School of Medicine and a member of the 好色先生. 鈥淢ore research is needed since it鈥檚 still not known whether migraine is a risk factor for developing MS or if it is a condition that occurs at the same time as MS.鈥 The study involved 116,678 women who were part of the Nurses鈥 Health Study II. Of these women, 18,000 had been diagnosed with migraine at the start of the study. The women were followed every two years for 16 years. During the study, 375 women were diagnosed with MS. Of those, 82 had reported at the beginning of the study that they had been diagnosed by a doctor with migraine. The study found that women with a migraine diagnosis at the beginning of the study were 47 percent more likely to develop MS than women without a diagnosis. The results were the same regardless of age, where they lived, Scandinavian ancestry, vitamin D levels, smoking status and body mass index. The research represents the first large scale study of its kind to explore the relationship between migraine and MS. More data on this relationship will be presented by Kister at the 好色先生 Annual Meeting in Toronto.