Some migraine sufferers seem to be more sensitive to weather changes or situations related to atmospheric changes. Sometimes they are sensitive to bright sunlight or high humidity or a stormy day; However, few studies have delved into how climate changes can cause imbalances in brain chemicals, including serotonin, which can lead to migraines.
A new study confirms that as temperatures rise, the chances of suffering from migraine attacks also increase. “Hippocrates, the father of medicine, believed that time and medicine were closely related. A couple of thousand years later, we’re showing that climate matters for human health,” said Vincent Martin, director of the Head and Facial Pain Center at the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute and a UC Health physician. .
The study, carried out by his team of researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) School of Medicine and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, both in the United States, was carried out in collaboration with Errex and Teva Pharmaceuticals, since The initial goal of the study was to study a drug that blocks a protein known as CGRP (calcitonin gene-related peptide), which is responsible for pain transmission in the brain and nervous system.
“Climate change is one of the most common triggers of migraine”says Martin, who is the lead author of the study and president of the National Headache Foundation.
The work analyzed the use of fremanezumab and whether it could prevent headaches caused by increased temperature. His findings will be presented at the 66th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Headache Society, June 13-16 in San Diego, California, United States.
Researchers cross-referenced 71,030 daily records from 660 migraine patients with regional weather data and found that for every 10 degrees Fahrenheit daily temperature increase, there was a 6% increase in the occurrence of any headache. However, during the Fremanezumab treatment periods the association completely disappeared.
“This study is the first to suggest that migraine-specific therapies that block CGRP may treat weather-associated headaches,” said Fred Cohen, co-author of the study and assistant professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York (USA).
Martin adds that if the results are confirmed in future studies, drug therapy has the potential to help many people with weather-induced migraine. “What we found was that temperature increases were an important factor in the occurrence of migraines in all regions of the United States”adds the expert.
“It’s pretty amazing, if you think about all the different weather patterns that occur across the country, we can find one that is so significant,” he concludes.
