Women Who Experience Migraine, Hot Flashes at High Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke [Study]

Experiencing migraine and hot flashes at the same time can be deadly, according to experts. So, women who go through this should check with their doctors.

Migraine and Hot Flashes Can Be Deadly

In the new study titled "Migraines, Vasomotor Symptoms, and Cardiovascular Disease in the Coronary Arter Risk Development in Young Adults," researchers learned that women who had migraine and persistent vasomotor symptoms were 1.5 times more likely to develop heart disease and 1.7 times more likely to have a stroke.

That being said, aside from the impact of conventional risk factors, including tobacco use and levels of lipids, blood pressure, and fasting glucose, women who had a history of migraines or who had experienced persistent hot flashes over time did not have a significantly elevated risk of heart disease.

Once factors for cardiovascular disease, such as age, race, estrogen use, oophorectomy, hysterectomy, and migraine history were taken into account,

About 2,000 women participated in the study, collecting data from ages 18 to 30 up until approximately 61 years old. Since hot flashes and migraines are so prevalent, these findings are significant.

Hot flashes are thought to afflict around 80% of women going through menopause, while there can be wide variations in the intensity, frequency, age of onset, and accompanying symptoms. About 17.5% of women who are late in their reproductive years experience migraines more frequently than other women.

Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director for The Menopause Society, said the study emphasizes how crucial it is to consider characteristics specific to or predominate in women, such as a history of migraines and persistent vasomotor symptoms when evaluating cardiovascular risk in this population. She added that to identify women at future risk more precisely, the current algorithms for predicting the risk of cardiovascular disease must be substantially refined. For women with both of these disorders, risk factor optimization is crucial in the interim.

Menstrual Cycle Affects Brain Structure

Women go through a lot physically and emotionally due to how their bodies are designed. A separate study learned that their menstrual cycle impacts their brain structure.

Structural changes in the brain that occur during menstruation may extend beyond regions related to the menstrual cycle. It has been found that hormonal changes, including those brought on by puberty, oral contraceptives, gender-affirming hormone therapy, and postmenopausal estrogen therapy, affect the fatty network of neuronal fibers that makes up white matter, which is responsible for transmitting information between regions of gray matter.

Additionally, pregnancy hormones can change women permanently. Another study found that progesterone modifies the brain's parental network by indirectly promoting the formation of new neural communication sites. These modifications are long-lasting and irreversible.

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