Migraine in Kids Linked to Risk Factors for Long-term Vascular Morbidity

A team of researchers from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and several other institutes recently completed a study that examines the risk factors for long-term cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease in children and adolescents with headache disorders.

The children and adolescents ranged in age from 4-19 years and were all part of the National Health and Nutrition Survey, which began in 1999 and was completed in 2004. The researchers examined a number of factors to determine their role in headaches and the predictive value they might have of later cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease: body mass index; levels of C-reactive protein, homocysteine, serum and red blood cell folate, vitamin B12, methylmalonic acid, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, non—high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and uric acid; and platelet count.

Children with headaches were found to have higher mean values for body mass index, C-reactive protein, and homocysteine compared to those without headaches, “and more children with headaches were in the highest quintile of risk for these factors,” according to the study published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. Additionally, children with headaches had serum and red blood cell folate levels that were lower than the levels of children without headaches. A higher number of children with headaches “were in the highest quintile of risk for three or more of these factors,” according to the Archives study.

The researchers conclude that “several important risk factors for long-term vascular morbidity cluster in children and adolescents with severe or recurrent headache or migraine.” They also suggest that “further study and screening of children with headaches may permit improved preventive management.”