Study Hints at Why Women Suffer More Migraines Than Men

TUESDAY, Aug. 14, 2018 — New insight into why women get more migraines than men could lead to better treatments, researchers say.

The results of lab and animal experiments suggest changing levels of the female sex hormone estrogen make cells around a key nerve in the head and connected blood vessels more sensitive to migraine triggers. And that increases migraine risk.

The study was published Aug. 14 in the journal Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences.

“We can observe significant differences in our experimental migraine model between males and females, and are trying to understand the molecular correlates responsible for these differences,” study co-author Antonio Ferrer-Montiel said in a journal news release.

He is a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Miguel Hernandez University in Elche, Spain.

Ferrer-Montiel said the effect of sex hormones on the trigeminal nerve appears to play an important role in women’s migraines that has not been addressed.

Because menstruating women have more migraines than men, period-related changes in estrogen levels were already a suspected factor, the study authors noted. The male sex hormone testosterone, meanwhile, appears to protect against the headaches.

The role of hormones on migraines is complex and much more research will be needed to understand it, Ferrer-Montiel said. For one thing, the current work relies on lab and animal studies, which are hard to translate to human migraine sufferers, he said. And findings in animals often do not pan out in humans.

But these early findings point to possible drug treatments, and the team plans to continue its research with models that better reflect real patients.

“If successful, we will contribute to better personalized medicine for migraine therapy,” Ferrer-Montiel said.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more on migraines.

Posted: August 2018

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