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People with migraines are 80% more likely to get depressed
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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People with migraine are at a higher risk of developing depression, according to a new study by scientists from Canada.
A study published in the journal Headache shows that this relationship can be bilateral: people with clinical depression have a higher risk of migraine development.
Migraine is a pulsating headache, localized only on one side of the head, which is often accompanied by nausea and increased photosensitivity. Sometimes a migraine attack is preceded by visual disturbances, known as aura. Depression is a serious mental disorder and includes such symptoms as sadness, insomnia, fatigue and impoverishment of emotions.
A team led by Modjill analyzed data from the Canadian National Health Survey for more than 15,000 people between 1994 and 2007.
The results of the survey showed that about 15% of people had depression and about 12% had migraine during 12 years of the study.
Depressive episodes were more common among people who had episodes of migraine - 22% of migraine sufferers became depressed, compared with 14.6% of those who did not have migraines.
Comparing other factors such as age and gender, scientists concluded that people with migraine were 80% more likely to suffer from depression than people without headaches. Also, participants with depression were 40% more likely to suffer from migraine than healthy people.
At the moment, scientists can not explain the relationship between depression and migraine, so their next step will be focused on exploring in detail the mechanism of the relationship of the two diseases.