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.