Hypertension and Migraine: Time to Revisit the Evidence

AbstractPurpose of ReviewIt was reported that migraine was associated with increased vascular risks, and the association between high blood pressure (BP) and migraine was believed by some to be the missing link. The current review focused on the associations between migraine and hypertension and BP per se, and evidence on the directionality of the associations was also reviewed.Recent FindingsIn cross-sectional studies, the findings regarding whether migraine was associated with hypertension were inconsistent, and positive, neutral, or even inverse associations were reported. When individual BP parameters were examined separately, migraine was associated with higher diastolic BPs, and perhaps lower pulse pressures, although the associations with systolic BPs were incongruent. When studies mainly recruiting elderly patients are excluded, it appeared that studies reporting a positive association between migraine and high BPs, particularly high diastolic BPs, outnumbered those with an inverse or neutral association. In longitudinal studies, there was evidence that migraine patients were at increased risks of developing hypertension at follow-up. However, studies examining whether high BP could predict new-onset migraine yielded conflicting results.SummaryThe association between migraine and hypertension is still a controversial issue, and a firm conclusion is precluded by the heterogeneities in methodologies and study populations. Migraine patients are at increased risk of devel...
Source: Current Pain and Headache Reports - Category: Neurology Source Type: research