Adolescent girls are more likely to develop migraines at puberty

Washington: Researchers suggest that adolescent girls who reach early puberty are also more likely to develop migraines.

"We know that the percentage of girls and boys who suffer from migraine is about the same until the rules start." When the rules begin in girls, the prevalence increases, but our data suggests that this occurs even before that, "said Vincent Martin, one of the researchers in the study.

According to the study presented at the American Headache Society, about 10% of school-age children suffer from migraine. As the teenage age approaches, the incidence of migraine rises rapidly among girls and by age 17, about 8% of boys and 23% of girls had already migrated.

The girls were between 8 and 20 years old and the study took place over a period of 10 years starting in 2004. The girls enrolled in the study between 8 and 10 years were examined during of the study visit every six to 12 months. The researchers determined when they showed the first signs of thelarche (bad development), pubarche (pubic hair growth) and menarche (early menses).

The girls answered a questionnaire on headaches to find out if they were suffering from migraine, the absence of migraine or probable migraine; the latter is defined as meeting all the diagnostic criteria for migraine, except one. The average age at which they responded to the survey was 16 years old.

Of those surveyed, a headache was diagnosed in 85 girls (11%), while 53 (7%) had a migraine and 623 (82%) had no migraine.

The researchers found that girls with migraine had an earlier age of the lip (bad development) and onset of the first rules (rules) than those without having migraine.

On average, bad development occurred four months earlier in migraine patients while menstruation began five months earlier. There was no age difference of pubarches (development of pubic hair) between migraine sufferers and non-migraine sufferers.

"There was a 25% increase in the chances of having a migraine year-by-year earlier for a girl who was suffering from either melarche or menarche." This suggests a close relationship between early puberty and migraine development at home. teenage girls, "said Susan Pinney, the principal investigator of the study.

The age of onset of the disease, pubarche or menarche does not differ between those who have a probable migraine and those who do not migrate, Pinney said.

Previous research has suggested that migraine often begins with the onset of menstrual cycles during menarche among teenage girls. But this study looks at the early stages of puberty, such as larvae and pubarche, Martin explained.

"It's quite new to suggest that migraines can actually happen before the onset of menstruation, and at each of these stages, different hormones begin to appear in girls." During pubarche, testosterone and androgens are present. first exposure to estrogen corresponds to the appearance of a more mature hormonal structure.Our study suggests that the very first exposure to estrogen could be the starting point of migraine in some It could be the Big Bang Migraine Theory, "said Martin.

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