Hot Flashes, Migraine Linked to Increased Risk of Stroke, Heart Disease | Top Vip News

A history of migraine combined with persistent hot flashes was associated with increased risks of cardiovascular disease and stroke, according to an analysis of women in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adult (CARDIA) study.

After adjusting for age, race, estrogen use, oophorectomy, and hysterectomy, women with both had more than double the risk of cardiovascular disease compared with women without migraines and with minimal or increased hot flashes (HR 2.25, CI 95 % 1.15). -4.38), Catherine Kim, MD, MPH, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and her colleagues reported.

Additionally, these women had a more than three-fold increased risk of stroke (HR 3.15, 95% CI 1.35-7.34), the group noted in Menopause.

However, after further adjustment for cardiovascular disease risk factors, including adequate blood pressure and cholesterol control, these associations were attenuated for both cardiovascular disease risk (HR 1.51, 95% CI 0. 73-3.10) and for the risk of stroke (HR 1.70, 95% CI 0.66-4.38).

“This is good news,” Kim said. MedPage today.

These findings were not particularly surprising, she added, since women with migraine are commonly told they have a higher risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease. Of note, Kim noted that the study showed that there was no increased cardiovascular or stroke risk in women who had only one of these conditions. But as women reach middle age, the combination of a history of migraine plus hot flashes may represent early indications of abnormal cardiovascular risk factor profiles.

Stephanie Faubion, MD, MBA, director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Women’s Health in Jacksonville, Florida, also said she was not particularly surprised by these findings, noting that previous studies which showed links between hot flashes, migraines and cardiovascular disease.

Faubion, who is also medical director of the Menopause Society, said MedPage today “We need to do a better job of figuring out how to weigh these women-specific or predominant cardiovascular disease risk factors so we can better predict which women will experience adverse outcomes later. This is important so we can step up prevention efforts for these women.” high risk”.

“We also need to refine our models for assessing cardiovascular risk in women, especially given that heart disease remains the leading cause of death among women,” he added.

For this analysis, Kim’s group included 1,954 women with 15 years of follow-up data in the CARDIA study. The average age was 40 to 41 years.

Of these women, 835 had minimal vasomotor symptoms, 521 had increasing vasomotor symptoms, and 598 had persistent vasomotor symptoms. There were 81 incidents of cardiovascular disease, including 42 strokes.

The prevalence of migraine was higher in women with persistent vasomotor symptoms: 23 percent compared with 14 percent of those with minimal and 14 percent of those with increasing hot flashes.

Compared with women who had minimal vasomotor symptoms around age 40, those who reported persistent symptoms were more likely to be black, have less high school education, and currently smoke cigarettes. Women with persistent vasomotor symptoms were less likely to use oral contraceptive pills, but more likely to use exogenous hormonal therapies, report perimenopausal symptoms, and have a history of hysterectomy or oophorectomy.

In a sensitivity analysis, Kim’s group found no significant interaction when taking into account the use of exogenous estrogens or oral contraceptives at the 15-year follow-up.