Migraine and Strokes

Filed in archive Heart and Stroke on March 28, 2007

What I like to call "head problems" seem to run in our family, and it seems they are all connected. My mother suffered from severe migraines most of her life. As she grew older, she began to suffer from Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIAs or mini-strokes.)

A transient ischemic attack (TIA) is a transient stroke that lasts only a few minutes. It occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is briefly interrupted. TIA symptoms, which usually occur suddenly, are similar to those of stroke but do not last as long.

Mom died of a stroke in 1999. According to Teri Robert at MyMigraineConnection.com:

Those of you who have followed my work are bound to have seen me warn that Migraine disease, especially with prolonged Migraine attacks, increases our risk of stroke.

Now research is proving Teri right.

An article in M.A.G.N.U.M., the newsletter of the Migraine Awareness Group:

MAGNUM has known for years that there is a significant body of scientific knowledge addressing a stroke risk caused by Migraine disease. But today that position has become even stronger, according to a study in the January 28 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). This shows some patients that experience Migraines may be at an increased risk for lesions in certain areas of the brain.

Like my mother, I have also suffered from severe migraines. They started when I was nearing puberty. Does this mean I'm also at risk for a stroke?

There's another connection. My daughter doesn't suffer from migraine, but when she was younger, she was epileptic. Wikipedia tells us that:

epilepsy (sometimes referred to as a seizure disorder) is a common chronic neurological condition that is characterized by recurrent unprovoked epileptic seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms due to abnormal, excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain.

I read a book years ago - Sorry, I can't recall the title - that said that both epilepsy and migraine were caused by a sort of short circuit in the synapses in the brain. So are TIAs and Strokes. Head problems.