Use of Acid-Suppression Therapy Linked to Migraine, Severe Headache

FRIDAY, April 26, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Use of acid-suppression therapy is associated with higher odds of migraine or severe headache, according to a study published online April 24 in Neurology: Clinical Practice.

Margaret Slavin, Ph.D., from the University of Maryland in College Park, and colleagues examined the association between migraine and severe headache prevalence and use of acid-suppression therapy. Data were obtained from adults in the 1999 to 2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

The researchers found that use of acid-suppression therapy was associated with higher odds of migraine or severe headache in 11,818 U.S. adults, with higher odds for all types of acid-suppression therapy and use of any type versus nonuse (adjusted odds ratios [95 percent confidence intervals], 1.70 [1.32 to 2.18], 1.40 [1.00 to 1.95], and 1.30 [1.05 to 1.61] with use of proton pump inhibitors, H2 receptor antagonists, and generic antacids, respectively). No significant differences were seen between acid-suppression therapies. There was an interaction observed for H2 receptor antagonist use with magnesium intake.

“These results suggest that there is a need for more intentionally designed prospective work to inform the extent to which associations between migraine and acid-suppression therapy are merely detecting comorbidities or to what extent migraine is an adverse event associated with the medications,” the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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