People who have been diagnosed with epilepsy are at a higher risk for migraines and new studies show evidence of a genetic link between the two.
The study confirmed that having a family history of epilepsy is a strong risk factor for migraine headaches.
Researchers studied about 500 families that included two or more members with epilepsy and found that people with the largest number of close relatives with seizures also had a high risk of migraines.
Those with three or more relatives with a seizure disorder had more than double the risk for migraines with aura—migraines with additional symptoms such as nausea or light and sound sensitivity. When following the families researchers were able to show that the link between epilepsy and migraine was due to shared biology and not some other cause.
This study is the largest collection of families with multiple members with epilepsy ever assembled which helped them achieve their main goal which was to determine how genes contribute to this disease.There are many reasons the two diseases can occur together but it hasn’t been clear until now that the two disorders are genetically linked.
However, not all seizures are caused by genetics. One study shows that though it can be, not everyone who has epilepsy has a genetic link but rather have had something to cause it such as a blow to the head. The main goal of this and future studies is to figure out how genes contribute to epilepsy risk.
This research has also answered questions that before baffled doctors such as why anti-seizure drugs help prevent migraines or lessen their severity in some but not all patients with migraines. With this information doctors can now try a different approach to treating or even preventing both disorders.
Family based population studies represent a whole new way of doing research and there is no telling what medical professionals can learn from them in the future.
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