Migraine, a standard neurologic disorder that causes severe headaches, has been related to conditions reminiscent of heart problems, dementia and cancer. A latest study has revealed a possible genetic link between migraines and breast cancers.
In the most recent study, published within the journal BMC, researchers found that girls with any variety of migraine are at an increased risk of developing breast cancer, especially estrogen receptor breast cancer – a kind through which the cancer cells grow in response to the hormone estrogen.
The team also found that girls who experienced migraine headaches without aura had an increased risk of ER-negative breast cancer (when the cancer cell doesn’t have the estrogen) and had a heightened probability for overall breast cancer.
Migraines normally cause headaches on one side of the top, which may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting and extreme sensitivity to light and sound. In some cases, people experience aura or a series of symptoms that temporarily affect vision reminiscent of blind spots, flashes of lights, and tunnel vision before the migraine attack. The patients may suffer tingling sensations in an arm or leg, numbness within the face and difficulty speaking.
Migraines are sometimes hereditary. Certain aspects reminiscent of hormones, stress, food, caffeine, weather changes, changes in sleep patterns and medications can trigger migraine headaches. Conditions reminiscent of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, sleep disorders and epilepsy also elevate the chance.
The disorder affects around 14-15% of the population on the earth, contributing to 4.9% of worldwide in poor health health measured by way of variety of years lived with disability.
Studies have shown that girls are as much as thrice more susceptible to migraine than men. Previous studies that evaluated the link between migraine and breast cancer have resulted in inconsistent findings.
The team behind the most recent study gathered data from genome-wide association studies involving individuals affected by each migraines and breast cancer. The genetic data for migraine was taken from five studies that looked into greater than 102,000 individuals with the condition, while for breast cancer, researchers used the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC) data that had about 250,000 cases.
Researchers evaluated the information using Mendelian randomization evaluation that uses variation in genes to look at the causal relationship between migraine and breast cancer. They found that migraine prevalence is positively related to breast cancer.
Researchers consider the estrogen hormone, a known trigger for migraine headaches, perhaps the possible link between the 2.