NEW YORK: A large cross-sectional study focused on women with migraines with aura and compared their brain MRI images with those of women not suffering from migraine. No differences between these two groups of women were found with regard to number of silent infarcts and white matter hyperintensities (WMH).
More than 10% of the female population suffers from migraines. Migraines with aura is seen in one out of three of these patients, who experience transitory neurological symptoms in connection with their migraine attacks. Previous studies raised concern with regard to a possible connection between migraines and an increased risk of silent brain infarcts and white matter hyperintensities, particularly in women suffering from migraine with aura. Silent brain infarcts and WMHs have been reported to increase the risk of dementia. “This prompted us to evaluate whether women with migraine with aura might be more likely to have evidence of silent brain infarcts and an increased load of white matter hyperintensities on their brain scans,” says research team leader Dr David Gaist of the Odense University Hospital and University of Southern Denmark…