Study reveals a causal link between Migraine and Alzheimer’s

A recent study by Lei Zhao and researchers provided genetic evidence linking migraine to dementia occurrence. This study, published in the 'Journal of Headache and Pain' collected genome-wide association study (GWAS) data on migraine and its subtypes and various types of dementia like Alzheimer’s disease (AD), different dementia types (vascular, dementia and Lewy body), along with GWAS data on seven brain measures, presenting brain structural changes with age. Using these datasets, they performed two-sample MR analyses to study how migraine affects dementia and structural changes in the brain.

The MR analysis found that genetically predicted migraine increased the risk of Alzheimer's disease significantly. Migraines also accelerated the annual atrophy of the entire cortical surface area and volume of the thalamus. Migraine without aura also increased AD risk and accelerated cortical surface area atrophy. Also, 28.2% of the observed causal effect of migraine on AD risk can be explained through thalamic atrophy.

These results suggest the various areas that could be targeted in the brain to prevent AD risk in migraine patients.