Migraines lower the risk of breast cancer

An American research project has discovered that women prone to migraines have a reduced risk of developing breast cancer, says the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

The study of 9,000 women aged between 34 and 64 appears in the July 2009 issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. The study involved more than 9,000 women and was led by Christopher Li, a breast-cancer epidemiologist.

Half of the study’s participants were diagnosed with breast cancer and half were not to act as a control group. Migraines and breast cancer are linked to hormone levels – migraines can be triggered by a drop in oestrogen levels and increased oestrogen levels can increase the risk of breast cancer. However, “the risk reduction remained statistically similar regardless of a woman’s menopausal status, her age at migraine diagnosis, use of prescription migraine medications or whether she avoided known migraine “triggers” such as alcohol consumption, smoking and taking hormone replacements. These triggers are also well-established breast cancer risk factors.”

“We know that migraine is definitely related to hormones and that’s why we started looking at this in the first place,” Li said. “We have different ideas about what may be going on but it’s unclear exactly what the biological mechanisms are.”

Li and his team have already conducted two studies on the link between breast cancer and migraines and will be doing a third follow-up study looking into the types, timing, intensity and severity of the migraines of the participants in the studies.

Tags: Self improvement & wellbeing