Child Abuse and Migraine
Migraine researcher Dr. Gretchen E. Tietjen, Director of University of Toledo Medical Center‘s Headache Treatment and Research Program in Ohio, USA, spoke about the connection between abuse and migraine this past summer at the American Headache Society Annual Meeting. She was talking about the unusual number of migraine patients who were abused at a young age.
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So could it be that psychological problems from past abuse are somehow contributing to migraine? Dr. Tietjen thinks it may be something more biological…
This seems to be more than a psychological reaction to maltreatment. We are examining the idea that early abuse—no matter what kind—creates permanent changes in the neurobiological system of abused persons that may make them more prone to migraine pain.
Many patients seem relieved when we ask them about abuse, but we need much more research to tell us if such information can really influence how we treat them.
Recent medical breakthroughs have brought home the point that environment and life choices can actually have permanent implications – and even cause changes that can be passed down to future generations.
Though the genetic basis for migraine is increasingly well researched, that doesn’t mean that factors such as abuse can’t pave the way for future migraine attacks.
A couple of things are important to note here:
- No one is saying that all migraineurs were abused as children. We hope that most weren’t. The point is that, for some reason, it looks like there may be a higher prevalence of abuse among migraineurs. More research needs to be done to confirm this.
- At this point, discovering a connection between abuse and migraine doesn’t really impact migraine treatment. Of course there may be past issues that need to be dealt with, and that can improve overall quality of life. But there’s no special treatment for a migraineur who was mistreated as a child.
It will be interesting to see where this research goes. It may provide further insight into why so many suffer from migraine disease.
27 December 2011 @ 4:58 pm
I wonder if some of these migraineurs were shaken as babies? It would be interesting to research the brains of migraineurs if we/they would be willing to donate our/their brains to research after death. What’s going on in there? What is causing these migraines? I believe it is physiological, and the brains may need to be physically examined until the causes are found.
28 December 2011 @ 1:11 pm
Since migraine tends to be genetically based, perhaps the parent(s) of some abused migraineurs were migraineurs themselves coping (not well) with pain.
29 December 2011 @ 11:54 am
Jon’s mom here. Abuse can come from many sources. Bullying would come to mind. And as with so many things, a genetic pre-disposition may show itself in response to einviroment.
30 December 2011 @ 5:24 am
This is not a new theory. It even goes back to the “migraineur personality” theories of the 1960’s and conversion disorders often touted by neurologists. I think it is not an amazing correlation that some persons with migraine disorders (millions of people) would also have been vicitims of child abuse. I wonder if they did the same study on other high volume disorders like cardiac disease, high blood pressure and diabetes if they would also have the same correlation. The sad fact is that child abuse is probably more prevalent than most people realize. Very interesting article tho – thanks for sharing!
16 February 2012 @ 10:11 pm
Very important and emotional topic. Congratulations for not shying away from these difficult issues. A history of childhood abuse also puts one at risk for chronic pain and drug addiction.
I wonder if the connection is poor serotonin (and likely other important neurotransmitters) production. When exposed to early abuse, the child’s adrenergic system (“fight-or-flight” response) is engaged more then usual, leaving the serotonin, dopamine, endorphin system underdeveloped.
11 April 2012 @ 2:22 pm
Fascinating! Your post makes a lot of sense. Would sure like to see more research on this!
3 June 2015 @ 9:19 pm
I wonder if any early trauma is a contributing factor. I had migraines from an early age, and so did my son. But as a teen his became chronic daily migraine and has continued now for 17 years. He was born very premature, and was in the NICU for two and a half months. I know that he suffered pain from all the testing and treatments, and I was unable to hold him till he was a week old.