Migraine + cholesterol = one big headache. Scientists have identified over 100 migraine triggers in food and drink that increase your chances of suffering from a migraine attack. One migraine trigger, cholesterol, has escaped the attention of the public, until recently.
Migraine with aura and cholesterol
If you regularly experience migraines with aura, then you may need to check your cholesterol and triglyceride levels routinely.
According to a scientific study published in Cephalalgia, elderly patients who suffer from migraines with aura are more likely to experience higher-than-normal cholesterol levels than elderly patients of other types of chronic headaches, including migraines without aura. Additionally, migraine with aura patients who participated in the study also exhibited signs of significantly high triglycerides.
The study focused on over 1000 senior citizens, including 925 people who did not suffer from chronic headaches, 64 patients of non-migraine chronic headaches, and 166 migraineurs, out of which 23 experienced migraines with aura.
Scientists are not able to explain why elderly migraine aura patients are six times more likely to suffer from skyrocketing cholesterol levels than their peers. For the moment, researchers acknowledge that hypertension caused by high cholesterol may be a trigger for people who get migraines with aura, and warn migraine patients to check their cholesterol levels routinely.
Other health conditions that highly correlate with migraines with aura include epilepsy, heart disease, stroke, and asthma.
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Sources:
Migraine With Aura May Mean Higher Cholesterol
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