Migraine with aura in middle or older age was linked with a higher ischemic stroke risk over 6 years.No significant stroke increase emerged for people who had migraine without aura.Men under age 72 with migraine, with or without aura, had a markedly higher stroke risk.
Middle-aged and older adults who had migraine with aura had a greater risk of subsequent stroke, a study of 11,000 people showed.
Over 6 years, migraine with aura was associated with a 73% higher risk of ischemic stroke compared with no migraine (HR 1.73, 95% CI 1.12-2.65), reported Adam Sprouse-Blum, MD, PhD, of the University of Vermont in Burlington, and co-authors. No increased stroke risk was seen for migraine without aura (HR 1.10, 95% CI 0.70-1.72) or migraine overall (HR 1.35, 95% CI 0.98-1.87).
However, migraine overall -- with or without aura -- more than tripled ischemic stroke risk in men younger than 72 (HR 3.67, 95% CI 1.96-6.88), Sprouse-Blum and colleagues reported in Neurology Open Access. This relationship did not emerge in women or in older men.
"Our result that middle-aged and older male participants under age 72 had a much higher risk of stroke was unexpected since previous research in young people has shown that stroke disproportionately affects female individuals," Sprouse-Blum said in a statement.
