Migraine sufferers 'prone to leg clots'

Migraine sufferers 'prone to leg clots'

Tuesday, 16 September 2008 Julie Steenhuysen
Reuters
man with migraine

The researchers found that people who get migraines are at higher risk of developing venos thromboembolism (Source: iStockphoto)
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People who get migraines may also be at higher risk for blood clots in their legs, say researchers.

The finding, reported in the journal Neurology, may help explain why migraine sufferers have a higher risk of stroke.

Researchers had thought that people who get migraines were more prone to a buildup of fatty deposits in the arteries, but Dr Stefan Kiechl of Innsbruck Medical University in Austria says that is likely not the case.

Kiechl and colleagues studied 574 people in Italy who were 55 years or older. They took ultrasound images of their necks and thighs to look for hardening of the arteries.

Almost one-fifth of the participants were migraine sufferers, and among these, 19% had one or more leg clots compared with just 8% in the migraine-free group.

Leg clots, also known as deep vein thrombosis, cause pain and swelling and can prove deadly if they break off and travel to the heart or lungs.

The researchers say it is not clear why people who get migraines are at higher risk for such clots.
Fatty plaques

What is clear is that they are not more likely to have atherosclerosis, or narrowing of the arteries, brought on by a build-up of fatty plaques.

"The thinking has been that because people with migraine are more likely to have strokes and other cardiovascular problems, that they would also have more severe and early atherosclerosis," says Kiechl.

"This study is the first use of high-resolution ultrasound to examine this theory, and it provides solid evidence to refute it."

"It's a really interesting new finding that we have not been aware of before," says Dr Rose Dotson of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, who was not part of the study.

Dotson says the study will likely change the way she evaluates patients, especially younger women who have migraines with an aura, a group thought to be at higher risk for strokes.

"We'll be looking for those clotting abnormalities," she says.

Oh, great! Another thing to worry about.

Bev