Roughly 15% of children suffer from migraines, and approximately one-third of these affected children have migraines with aura, a collection of symptoms that can include weakness, blind spots, and even hallucinations. According to ScienceDaily, although the causes of migraines are unclear, a new study in The Journal of Pediatrics suggests a connection between migraine headaches in children and a heart defect called patent foramen ovale, which affects 25% of people in the U.S.
Dr. Rachel McCandless and colleagues from the Primary Children's Medical Center and the University of Utah studied children 6-18 years old who were diagnosed with migraines between 2008 and 2009. The researchers took two-dimensional echocardiograms (sonogram of the heart) of each child's heart, looking for a patent foramen ovale (PFO), a common defect in the wall between the two upper chambers of the heart. Although a PFO is not necessarily dangerous, it can allow unfiltered blood to bypass the lungs and circulate throughout the body. As Dr. McCandless explains, "Some adult studies have suggested a link between having a PFO and migraine headaches."
Of the studied children who had migraines with aura, 50% also had a PFO; this is nearly double the PFO rate of the general population. However, only 25% of children who had migraines without aura had a PFO. Dr. McCandless and colleagues hypothesize that if a causal relationship can be established, closure of a PFO with a catheter device may help in the treatment of certain kinds of migraines, specifically migraines with aura. It is her hope that "our study will help guide future research about this difficult problem."
I chose this article due to the fact that a close friend of mine suffers from migraines. It is terrible to see what she has to go through when she has a migraine. She has them so bad that she sometimes ends up vomiting from the pain. I thought it was really interesting how they related migraines to a heart defect. Who would've thought something wrong with the heart could cause pain in your head?
This is a really great article. Knowing that we are finding more out about migraines that almost seem a mystery to us are great. I never thought to think that a cause of it could be a heart problem.
ReplyDeleteThat is very interesting. Young kids that have migranes often can lead to heart problems. I will keep an eye out for moreon this but that is strange. I always thought head aches where just the body tellng you your depleted in some area.I never heard of Patent foramen ovale, but 25% can go up very quickly if these studies arent done.
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