Migraine Increases Risk of Pregnancy Complications – Study

Migraines are severe, recurring, and painful headaches. They can be preceded or accompanied by sensory warning signs and other symptoms.

The extreme pain that migraines cause can last for hours or even days.

According to the American Migraine Association, they affect 36 million Americans, or approximately 12 percent of the population.

Migraines can follow an aura of sensory disturbances followed by a severe headache that often appears on one side of the head. They tend to affect people aged 15 to 55 years.

A recent study conducted at Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, has revealed that migraine is associated with an increased risk of pregnancy-related hypertension disorders in mothers and newborns.

According to the lead author of the study, Nils Skajaa, Epidemiologist Department of Clinical Epidemiology, “Migraine is a disabling condition, common among women of reproductive age.
“Accumulating evidence shows that migraine in pregnancy may lead to several adverse outcomes in the mother and child, but treatment may alleviate these risks”.

The study further revealed that maternal migraine was associated with an increased risk of a variety of adverse outcomes, including low birth weight, preterm birth, Cesaerean delivery, respiratory distress syndrome and febrile seizures.

The research team however noted that treated migraine was not linked with higher risks of adverse outcomes compared with untreated migraine.
“This suggests that migraine itself, rather than its treatment, is associated with pregnancy complications,” the author said.

May 13, 2019