Migraines are a significant risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and all-cause dementia, according to a Canadian study published this week.
Investigators analyzed health data from about 680 community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years and older. Study subjects were followed for five years and received extensive evaluations for dementia. Migraines were self-reported.
The migraine sufferers were four times as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease as their peers without migraines and three times as likely to develop dementia. No significant association was noted between migraines and vascular dementia.
In light of these results, eldercare providers may want to consider earlier screening for cognitive decline in migraine sufferers, and more aggressive treatment of modifiable risk factors to delay onset, wrote senior researcher Suzanne Tyas, University of Waterloo.
“Identifying a midlife risk factor for dementia, such as migraines, enables earlier detection of at-risk individuals,” she concluded.
The study was published this month in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
