Migraine Linked to All-Cause Dementia, Alzheimer Disease

THURSDAY, Oct. 7, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Migraine is associated with an increased risk for all-cause dementia and Alzheimer disease, according to research published online Sept. 15 in Acta Neurologica Scandinavica.

Long Wang, M.D., from The Second People’s Hospital of Hefei in China, and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis to examine the potential association between migraine and dementia. Data were included from five published cohort studies, with 249,303 individuals.

The researchers found that migraine was associated with an increased risk for all-cause dementia and Alzheimer disease in a pooled analysis (risk ratios [95 percent confidence intervals], 1.34 [1.13 to 1.59] and 2.49 [1.16 to 5.32], respectively). No association was seen between migraine and risk for vascular dementia (risk ratio, 1.51; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.77 to 2.96).

“Our meta-analysis suggests that migraine is a potential risk indicator for dementia,” the authors write. “More research is needed to corroborate this finding and elucidate possible pathophysiological mechanisms, and importantly, investigate whether treatment of migraine might positively influence the risk of developing dementia.”

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