Migraine linked to elevated cardiovascular risk

Migraine sufferers are twice as likely to suffer heart attack as those who don't have the condition, according to a new study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.

The study, published in the Feb 10, 2010 online issue of Neurology, shows that migraine sufferers were at increased risk for having a stroke or having key risk factors for cardiovascular disease including diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Richard B. Lipton, M.D. and colleagues analyzed data from 6,102 men and women with migraine and 5,243 people without the condition to establish any potential association between migraine and cardiovascular events.

They found those who had migraine were about twice as likely to experience a heart attack as those without the condition, 4.1 percent versus 1.9 percent.  For those who had migraine accompanied by aura, the risk for heart attack was three-fold greater than the risk for people without migraine.

Additionally, people with migraine were about 50 percent more likely than the controls to have diabetes, hypertension, and elevated cholesterol, all that have been known as cardiovascular risk factors.

The findings suggest a mechanism linking migraine headaches and cardiovascular events, according to an editorial accompanying the study.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States striking killing 632,000 people in the country in 2006.

Good things that may help reduce heart attack risk including low fat diet, green tea, high intake of vitamin D or frequent exposure to sunshine, getting a good night’s sleep, and taking dietary supplements like red yeast rice extract among others.

Bad things that need to be avoided in order to cut cardiovascular disease risk include exposure to bisphenol A, a chemical found in plastic widely used for food containers and water bottles, exposure to medical radiation, intake of trans fat, smoking, and high intake of phosphorus.

Foods that need to be avoided include full fat milk and other dairy products, organ meats such as liver, egg yolks, fatty and marbled meats, spareribs, cold cuts, hot dogs and sausages, bacon, fried and breaded or canned meats and vegetables, canned fruit packed with heavy syrup, coconut, vegetables with creamy sauces, butter, lard, gravy, nondairy creamers, hydrogenated margarine and shortening, cocoa butter found in chocolate, and coconut, cottonseed and palm-kernel oils, according to mayoclinic.com.

What can be eaten include fresh or frozen vegetables and fruit, low-sodium canned vegetables, canned fruit packed in juice or water, skim or low fat or fat free milk and dairy products, egg whites, fish -  particularly fatty cold water fish such as salmon, skinless poultry, legumes, soybeans and other soy products, lean ground meats, olive oil, canola oil, margarine labeled trans fat free, and cholesterol lowering margarine.

David Liu and editing by Denise Reynolds