Presence of Headache and Migraine in Asthma Patients

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:Migraine is a diseases characterized with severe headaches, with neurological and systemic findings. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of migraine and to examine whether there is a relationship between atopic disorders, parental history and migraine in asthma patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS:A total of 288 asthma outpatients, who had the diagnosis by an early or late test of reversibility showing a reversible airway obstruction according to hospital database were included. The presence of headache, atopic symptoms and parental history about asthma, atopic disorders and migraine were asked. The patients with headache were consultated by neurology department and investigated about the presence of migraine. The diagnosis of migraine headache was made if patients fulfilled the International Headache Society (IHS) criteria. RESULTS:60.4% of patients described a headache. There were 94 patients (32.6%) with headaches meeting the IHS criteria for migraine. Only 12 patients had migraine with aura. There were atopic symptoms in 86.8% of patients. According to parental history, there were asthma in 47.9%, atopic symptoms in 39.6% and migraine in 22.2% of parents. Patients with atopic symptoms were found to have significantly high rate of headaches (65.3%) "p=0.007". The prevalence of migraine was significantly high in patients with parental atopic symptoms (54%) "p=0.002". Multiple logistic regression analysis identified that gender, parental history of asthma, allergia and migraine, and smoking were independent risk factors for presence of migraine in asthmatics. CONCLUSION:There is a high prevalence of migraine headaches in patients with asthma. The coexistence of asthma and headaches may be related with a similar pathophysiological mechanism; parental history, common genetic compounds and smoking may play role in this mechanism. The headaches in asthma patients, atopic symptoms and family history should be questioned, and clinicians should be careful about the presence of migraine.

Bidirectional association between asthma and migraines in adults: Two longitudinal follow-up studies

“…Clinically, a considerable portion of asthma patients have comorbid headaches 19,20 , and it was questionable which disease was the first event. We postulated that asthma and migraine have reciprocal relationships with each other.…”

RAR‐related orphan receptor A: One gene with multiple functions related to migraine

“…Moreover, epidemiological studies have confirmed the association between MC‐related disorders such as asthma and migraine. Onur Turan et al suggested that migraine has a higher prevalence rate in asthma patients 6,7 . It may be more interesting when we know that high levels of IL‐17 are associated with severe asthma 40 .…”

“…The pathophysiology of migraine is still unknown; nevertheless, a significant comorbidity has been reported between migraine and allergic diseases such as asthma and seasonal allergies that highlights evidence of immune involvement in migraine 4‐7 . Based on some hypotheses, the development and progression of this disorder may be affected by inflammation, vascular dysfunction, circadian rhythm, and several signaling pathways 8‐10 .…”

Coincidence of Asthma and Migraine in Cases of Stable Asthma

“…13 Literatürde, astımlı hastalarda migren insidansı %16-32 arasında bildirilmektedir. 21,[31][32][33] Çalışmamızda bu oran %35,4 olarak saptanmıştır. Araştırmalarda kadınlarda erkeklere göre migren görülme oranının yüksek olduğu bildirilirken, çalışmamızda oran benzer bulunmuştur.…”

“…Araştırmalarda kadınlarda erkeklere göre migren görülme oranının yüksek olduğu bildirilirken, çalışmamızda oran benzer bulunmuştur. [31][32][33] Çalışmamızın sınırlayıcı faktörlerinden biri, hastalarımızın kesitsel olarak değerlendirmelerinin yapılıp, uzun süreli izlem yapılmamış olmasıdır. Hasta sayımızın da nispeten azlığı ikinci bir sınırlayıcı faktördür.…”