Migraine: When it's a sign of a heart attack
People who suffer from migraine with aura are at special risk of a heart attack, new research has found.
Compared with someone who doesn’t suffer from migraine, they are more than twice as likely to have a heart attack, and to die from cardiovascular disease. The risk is heightened if one of their parents also suffered a heart attack.
Overall, 18 per cent of all women and 8 per cent of men in the USA regularly suffer from a migraine attack, although it’s a level that has not increased in 15 years.
(Source: British Medical Journal, 2008; 337: a636; Lancet, 2008; 372: 1369-71).