May
31
There are many added health risks to being pregnant. Here we look at the association of migraines during pregnancy and the increased risk to you and your babys health.
Experiencing migraines while pregnant has been linked to an increase in the chance of having a stroke, according to a study in the United States. It found that you were fifteen times more likely to have a stroke compared to woman who were not pregnant.
Information was collated from over 33,000 pregnant women who were also experiencing migraines.
Age has been found to be a contributing factor, as a woman above 40 is almost two and a half times more likely to suffer from migraines during her pregnancy than a woman who is under twenty. A white woman will have more migraines than a woman of another race or ethnicity.
Migraines have also been linked to a rise in the risk of heart disease, blood clots, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. They suggest it is possible that the migraine itself is an indication that the cardiovascular system is not working as well as it should be.
The producers of the study believe the best explanation of the results is the interaction of migraines and the natural physiological changes that occur while pregnant (e.g. an increase in heart rate and blood volume) and that this results in additional stress on the vascular system.
Previous studies have pointed towards a problem with the cells that make up the inner wall of blood vessels. It is thought that they don’t function correctly when a woman is pregnant and also suffers from migraines.
Migraines, especially those linked with an aura or visual changes around the time of the headache, have been previously linked to stroke and heart disease in women. This study continues to validate the connection between the two.
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