Women more affected by migraine | Living

Migraine can affect men, women and children. But this is not an equal opportunity disorder. Of those who suffer from chronic debilitating migraine attacks, the vast majority are women. According to the Migraine Research Foundation, they reach 85%.

"One researcher once said that" migraine is unavoidable, "said Elizabeth Loder, associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and head of the Division of Headache and Pain at Brigham Hospital and Women & # 39; s. "It's true.Migraine affects women disproportionately."

A migraine is much more than a simple headache. To be sure, migraine usually involves a throbbing painful headache, mostly on one side of the head, sometimes both. But it is also a disabling neurological disease characterized by a wide range of symptoms, including visual disturbances, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, sensitivity to light, noises and odors, and for some, a temporary weakness on one side. Episodes can last for hours, sometimes even days.

About 25% of victims also experience an aura, a collection of sensory disturbances, such as flashes of light, blind spots or tingling, and numbness of the hands and face. In addition, migraine with aura in women under 50 years of age increases their risk of ischemic stroke, especially if they smoke and use oral contraceptives.

Migraine affects 1 in 7 adults worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. In the United States, nearly 40 million Americans suffer, including 28 million women and girls, according to the research foundation. Migraines cost the country about $ 78 billion a year, women accounting for about 80% of direct medical costs and job losses, according to a recent report from the Society for Women's Health Research .

"We do not know why migraines are more common in women than men, but they are more sensitive to all pain than men," says Janine Clayton, director of the Institute's Women's Health Research Bureau. nationals. of health. "In addition, women who are suffering are not always taken seriously. Women are perceived as excessively seeking help. "

Cindy McCain, widow of Senator John McCain, R-Arizona, spoke about her experiences with migraine and the frustration of seeing doctors take her debilitating headaches seriously.

"I saw a lot of doctors who wrote me as being just" overworked, "she said in an interview. "Their advice was to go home, relax and have a glass of wine."

Since migraines affect young women and improve with age, they are more prevalent at a time when women are expected to be more productive at home and at work. Since pain is often worse with routine activities, "people tend to stay still, which has obvious disadvantages for productivity," says Mark Green, professor of neurology and anesthesiology and director of the Center for Disease Control. treatment of headache and pain of the Icahn School of Mount Sinai Drug.

"They also have a sensitivity to light and sound and it is difficult to work or even operate in these conditions."

Boys have more migraines than girls before puberty, and then the equation changes, with girls and women being the most affected by migraines until menopause. The disorder then attenuates for most women.

For this reason, most experts believe that hormone fluctuations in women have a major influence, especially when estrogen falls at the time of menses. Most attacks occur several days before or after menstruation.

Green believes that estrogen withdrawal is a major trigger.

"Around the time of menstruation and ovulation, and just after childbirth, levels go down quickly, which can be a problem," he says. "After menopause, when estrogen levels remain low – they do not fall – most women get better. Estrogen falls increase the excitability of the cerebral cortex. Migraine is a condition in which the cerebral cortex is more "excitable", often genetically, so it is one of the reasons. "

A small recent study suggested that a high rate of estrogen could be linked to migraine headaches in humans, although the scientists indicated that further research was needed.

A migraine can be triggered by other triggers, including stress, sleep changes, loud noises, bright lights, strong smells and various foods and beverages, including wine and chocolate. McCain would have been poorly served by the first advice given to him, wine being one of his triggers.

"Think of migraine as a problem where the threshold of attack is low," says Green. "Triggers that may not be relevant to someone else may become a big trigger for migraine. Anyone can have a headache after drinking a liter of red wine, but it takes very little to trigger it in a migraine sufferer. "

Although there is no cure, prescription and over-the-counter medications and complementary approaches, such as certain dietary supplements, massages, relaxation techniques and biofeedback, can treat or prevent symptoms. Clinicians also recommend keeping a migraine diary to understand triggers – and then avoid them, if possible.

Recent research has also shown that exposure to green light can help light-sensitive migraine sufferers, which seems to lessen the severity of headaches compared to normal exposure to light.

For most women, relief usually comes with aging. Unfortunately, the worst migraines "occur when women try to reconcile career and family responsibilities," says Loder. "Migraines improve with time for most women, but you never get back the years of work or school lost, or the time lost with your family."