Research ties lightning to onset of headache, migraines
University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers have found that
lightning may affect the onset of headache and migraines. These results,
published in the Jan. 24, 2013 online edition of the journal Cephalalgia, are the first tying lightning
to headache and could help chronic sufferers more efficiently anticipate
headache and migraine arrival and begin preventive treatment immediately.
Geoffrey
Martin, fourth-year medical student at UC, and his father Vincent Martin, MD,
professor in the division of general internal medicine, UC Health physician and
headache expert, led the study which showed that there was a 31 percent
increased risk of headache and 28 percent increased risk of migraine for
chronic headache sufferers on days lighting struck within 25 miles of study
participant's homes.
In
addition, new-onset headache and migraine increased by 24 percent and 23
percent in participants.
"Many
studies show conflicting findings on how weather, including elements like
barometric pressure and humidity, affect the onset of headaches," Geoffrey
Martin says. "However, this study very clearly shows a correlation between
lightning, associated meteorological factors and headaches."
Participants
who fulfilled the criteria for International Headache Society-defined migraines
were recruited from sites located in Ohio and Missouri and recorded their
headache activity in a daily journal for three to six months.
During
this time, the location where lightning struck within 25 miles of participant's
homes as well as the magnitude and polarity of lightning current was recorded.
"We
used mathematical models to determine if the lightning itself was the cause of
the increased frequency of headaches or whether it could be attributed to other
weather factors encountered with thunderstorms," says Vincent Martin.
"Our results found a 19 percent increased risk for headaches on lightning
days, even after accounting for these weather factors. This suggests that
lightning has its own unique effect on headache."
He says
that negatively charged lightning currents were also particularly associated
with a higher chance of headache.
"There
are a number of ways in which lightning might trigger headaches," he says.
"Electromagnetic waves emitted from lightning could trigger headaches. In
addition, lightning produces increases in air pollutants like ozone and can
cause release of fungal spores that might lead to migraine."
"This
study gives some insight into the tie between headaches or migraines, lightning
and other meteorologic factors," says Geoffrey Martin. "However, the
exact mechanisms through which lightning and/or its associated meteorologic
factors trigger headache are unknown, although we do have speculations.
Ultimately, the effect of weather on headache is complex, and future studies
will be needed to define more precisely the role of lightning and thunderstorms
on headache."
Source: University of Cincinnati Academic Health
Center
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