No loss of mental ability in migraine

Migraine does not cause a decline in cognitive performance. Although in the brain of migraine patients with the help of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) increased so-called bright spots can be seen, but this has no effect on mental abilities, so the result of a study by American and Dutch researchers.

14/11/2012

The current study involved researchers from Leiden University (The Netherlands), Haga Hospital in The Hague (Netherlands), Slingeland Hospital in Doetinchem (Netherlands), Academic Hospital Maastricht (Netherlands) and the National Institute on Aging in Bethesda (Maryland , USA) to analyze possible effects of chronic migraine on the brain. The researchers published their results in the journal "Journal of the American Medical Association".

Nearly 300 migraine patients were examined
In their study, the researchers evaluated data from "295 well-characterized patients with migraine and 140 age-matched and gender-matched controls". The brain of the study participants was examined in 2000 and in 2009 using an MRI scan. At the first examination in 2000, the mean age of the sample was 48 and 71 percent were women. Although there was evidence in earlier studies that chronic migraine can lead to ischemic lesions (tissue damage due to deficient circulation) in the brain, but the Dutch and US researchers could not show any signs of loss of the migraine patients after nine years trial period determine mental abilities.

Bright spots in the brain of migraine patients
The study in the magnetic resonance tomograph showed in the chronic migraine patients increasingly so-called bright spots in the brain, but an increased progression of the remaining MRI detectable brain damage was not recorded, the researchers write. For those affected, this is certainly good news, especially since they are often already significantly limited in their everyday lives because of the migraine symptoms. The massive headache, which can often be accompanied by so-called aura symptoms such as dizziness, numbness in the extremities, blurred vision, increased sensitivity to light and noise, often put them completely out of action during migraine attacks. An additional loss of mental ability would have been a bad news for them. However, the current study gives the all-clear at this point. Mark Kruti of the Institute of Radiology at the Leiden University Medical Center emphasized that their study found no loss of memory, concentration and attention due to chronic migraine, and that preventive "aggressive treatments" could be avoided. (Fp)

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