What Is Known, and Not Known
What makes one person more likely to develop migraine than another is not completely and clearly understood. While having a family history of migraine greatly increases the odds of developing the condition, certain environmental factors such as socioeconomic status and stress have also been linked to migraine disease. It's likely that a combination of both genetic predisposition and environmental triggers cause migraine.
Some risk factors that are associated with an increased risk of migraine include:
Heredity. Between 70 and 80 percent of people with migraine have a family history of the condition.
Gender and age. After puberty, migraine is two to three times more common in women and peaks in the thirties and forties.
Race. Caucasians are more likely to develop migraine than African Americans or people of Asian descent.
Alert
Migraine also increases your risk of developing a number of physical and psychological disorders, including epilepsy, certain sleep disorders, asthma, Raynaud's disease, depression, and panic disorder.
Genetics and Heredity
Family history does play a role in migraine. Studies of families and twins have shown that migraine risk is much higher when there is a first-degree relative with a history of migraine, even when family members lived apart. This connection is particularly strong in the case of migraine with aura.
According to the National Headache Foundation, four out of five migraineurs report a family history of migraine. A child who has one parent with migraine has a 50 percent chance of developing the condition; if both parents have migraine the chance of the child developing migraine raises to 75 percent.
Researchers have not yet isolated the genes associated with migraine with aura and migraine without aura. However, three genes for familial hemiplegic migraine, a rare type of migraine with aura characterized by paralysis on one side of the body, have been identified (CACNA1A, ATP1A2, and SCN1A).
While study is ongoing, researchers believe these genes are associated with the spreading cortical depression that may be the cause of migraine aura. Two of these genes have also been linked to epilepsy, which is one of the comorbidities (or associated disorders) of migraine.
I get migraines. Will my daughter have them?
Family history is a strong risk factor for migraine. But that doesn't necessarily mean your daughter will develop them. Watch for the symptoms of migraine in your child, and consult with a pediatric neurologist if your child begins to complain of head pain.
Environmental Factors
There are also a host of factors — including weather, food, stress, hormones, and sleep — that can trigger a migraine attack or episode in migraineurs. These migraine triggers are different from the risk factors described in the previous sections.
There is some evidence that socioeconomic status may also influence the prevalence of migraine. The AMPP study found that adolescents from low-income families with no history of migraine were more likely to develop migraine than those teens from households with an income of $90,000 or higher. However, among those who did have a family history of migraine, there was no difference in migraine prevalence between low-income and higher-income households.
Studies of adult migraineurs have also found that low income is associated with higher migraine prevalence. This seems to indicate that environmental factors associated with low socioeconomic status, such as lack of access to health care, poor diet, and greater levels of stress, may potentially increase migraine risk. It's also possible that chronic migraines — which cause impaired productivity and lost hours in the workplace — may impact the potential for career and wage advancement. Further research is needed to determine the direct relationship between socioeconomic class and migraine.
