Study challenges migraine-Parkinson's connection

American Academy of NeurologyAug 22 2024

Contrary to previous research, a new study of female participants finds no link between migraine and the risk of developing Parkinson's disease. The study was published on August 21st, 2024, in the online issue of Neurology^®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

These results are reassuring for women who have migraine, which itself causes many burdens, that they don't have to worry about an increased risk of Parkinson's disease in the future."

Tobias Kurth, MD, ScD, Study Author, Institute of Public Health at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin 

The study involved 39,312 female participants with an average age of 55 at the start of the study. A total of 7,321 of the participants reported current or past migraine at the start of the study. The participants were then followed for an average of 22 years. During that time, 685 people reported physician-diagnosed Parkinson's disease. Of those, 128 were people who reported a history of migraine or active migraine, and 557 were people with no migraine.

After adjusting for other factors that could affect the risk of developing Parkinson's disease as well as migraine, such as age, physical activity, alcohol use, and smoking status, researchers found that people with migraine were no more likely to develop Parkinson's disease than those who did not have migraine.

This result did not change based on how frequently people had a migraine or whether they experienced an aura before the migraine. An aura is a visual or other sensory disturbance that occurs before the migraine starts, such as seeing bright lights.

"Since this study involved only female health professionals who were primarily white people, more research is needed to determine whether the results will apply to other groups, including men, women and other races, ethnicities, and gender identities," Kurth said.

Another limitation of the study is that participants self-reported information on migraine and Parkinson's disease, so it is possible that some information was not accurate. In addition, since Parkinson's disease is often not diagnosed until symptoms are advanced, it is possible that some participants may have developed Parkinson's disease after the end of the study.