Migraine linked to hot weather
Research from the US suggests that migraine is linked to hot weather and low barometric pressure.
The study was carried out by Kenneth Mukamal and colleagues from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and was published in the journal Neurology.
About 18% of women and 6% of men in the US report having migraine headaches, with young and middle aged adults particularly affected, wrote the researchers.
And while some small studies have suggested various aspects of weather and air pollution may trigger headaches, their conclusions have been inconsistent, they added.
Mukamal and colleagues carried out a study of 7054 patients who attended the BIDMC emergency department between May 2000 and December 2007. Of these, 2250 had migraine and 4803 had tension or unspecified headache as their primary discharge diagnosis.
Researchers found that there was a direct linear relationship between the onset of migraine and the ambient temperature in the 24 hours before the patient arrived at hospital. Lower barometric pressure was also related to the onset of migraine, but to a lesser degree.
There was no relationship between the onset of migraine and air pollution in this study, although this has been found in previous studies.
