Migraine has been linked to an increased incidence of cardiovascular events, including heart attack and stroke, in men. A heart attack, or acute myocardial infarction (MI), occurs when blood flow to the heart is blocked, and the heart receives inadequate blood and oxygen, resulting in heart muscle death. A stroke, or cerebrovascular accident (CVA), is a loss of brain function that occurs when the blood supply to the brain is interrupted.

The link between heart disease and migraine in men was revealed in 2007 when researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard University published a long-term, large-scale analysis of male migraineurs involved in the Physicians' Health Study.

The Physicians' Health Study is an ongoing, long-term study launched in 1982 to address areas of men's health research. The study subjects consist of more than 20,000 male doctors between the ages of forty and eighty-four with no prior history of heart disease or cancer. These men are surveyed annually for health data, providing researchers with an important resource for longitudinal (or longterm) men's health studies.

The Brigham researchers found that approximately 1,500 of the Physician's Health Study subjects experienced migraines, and survey results from 2006 showed that the male migraineurs had a significantly increased risk of heart attack and stroke. The chances of experiencing serious cardiovascular problems in the migraine population were increased by 24 percent over the general population, and their chances of a heart attack were 42 percent greater than nonmigraineurs.

Women who have migraines are also more likely to experience stroke and other cardiovascular problems; see Chapter 19 for more information on cardiovascular comorbidities. The connection between migraine sufferers and those with cardiac events is extremely interesting, as it appears that migraine could be a marker for potential future cardiac problems. Whether this knowledge can aid in the ultimate prevention of migraine or cardiac events is an area that requires substantial further research.