The OSIT showed certain odours to be highly offensive to migraine patients even when they were not experiencing migraine headaches. More attention should be paid to odours that are perceived to be offensive by migraine patients, particularly those with MWA.

Objective Barometric pressure has been reported as a triggering and exacerbating factor in migraine headaches, although there are few reports concerning the association of weather change and migraine headache. The relationship between barometric pressure changes and migraine headaches was prospectively examined. Methods A total of 28 migraine patients who lived within 10 km of the Utsunomiya Local Meteorological Observatory kept a headache diary throughout the year. Daily and monthly mean barometric pressure data of the Utsunomiya Local Meteorological Observatory were obtained via the homepage of the Meteorological Office. Results The correlation between headache frequency obtained by the headache diaries for 1 year and changes in the barometric pressure during the period of 2 days before and 2 days after the headache onset were evaluated. The frequency of migraine increased when the difference in barometric pressure from the day the headache occurred to the day after was lower by more than 5 hPa, and decreased when the difference in barometric pressure from the day the headache occurred to 2 days later was higher by more than 5 hPa. Of 28 patients, weather change was associated with migraine headache development in 18 (64%) patients, 14 of which reported low barometric pressure to be a cause of headache. There was no association between the monthly mean barometric pressure and headache frequency throughout the year. Conclusion Barometric pressure change can be one of the exacerbating factors of migraine headaches.

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of typical aura without headache (TAWH) in Japan. We distributed a self-report questionnaire comprising seven items. Of 1914 cases, the number of patients who provided valid answers was 1063. They included 1063 out-patients with 81 of these patients positive in the ID migraine screener Japanese version. TAWH was diagnosed in 35 patients (3.2%), aged 23-87 years, and included 12 males and 23 females. The age of patients with TAWH showed a biphasic distribution (20-39 years and 60-69 years), similar to the age distribution of all patients. Migraine with aura was diagnosed in 67 patients (6.3%) and showed a monophasic age distribution (40-49 years). These data suggest that TAWH is not a rare headache type in clinics especially in a setting of general ophthalmology clinics, and some patients of migraine with aura may transform to TAWH with ageing.

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