People with migraine, particularly those who have migraine with aura, are at greater risk of heart disease than those without migraine. However, genetics may not be to blame for the link, according to research published earlier this month.

Two kinds of heart disease have been linked to migraine. Stroke is more common in people with migraine than those without; this association is even greater for migraine with aura. Coronary heart disease, the most common kind of heart disease, is also increased in people with migraine, though the association is weaker than that of stroke.

In this current research, scientists examined data from two large studies that focused on genetic factors that might increase the risk for migraine and heart disease. The migraine-focused study included 19,981 people with migraine and 56,667 without. The heart disease study included 21,076 people with coronary heart disease and 63, 014 without.

They study found no shared gene variations between migraine with aura and heart disease. However, migraine without aura and heart disease do share some genetic variations. These variations do not increase the risk of heart disease; rather, they protect against it.

How do people whose genes either protect them from or, at worst, have a no bearing on heart disease wind up with a higher risk of heart disease? This study raises that question, but cannot answer it. It is a question researchers would like to see investigated in the future. Some possibilities could include obesity, lack of exercise, smoking, and depression.

(The article appears in Neurology Genetics, an open-access journal. You can read the full text here: Genetic Analysis for a Shared Biological Basis Between Migraine and Coronary Artery Disease.)

REFERENCE

Winsvold, B. S., Nelson, C. P., Malik, R., Gormley, P., Anttila, V., Vander Heiden, J., ... & Terwindt, G. M. (2015). Genetic analysis for a shared biological basis between migraine and coronary artery disease. Neurology Genetics, 1(1), e10.