Preenocine migraines are known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), but the absolute contribution of precursor migraines to CVD incidence compared to other CVD risk factors is unclearResearchers recently assessed the incidence of CVD in women with pre-eclampsia migraines
Participants participated in the study in 1992-1995, with no CVD at baseline, and the main endpoint of the study was severe CVD events, including the first myocardial infarction, stroke, or CVD death, based on the presence of preeclampsia at the baseline
Of the 27,858 women who participated in the study, the average age at the baseline was 54.7 years, of which 1,435 (5.2%) had pre-eclampsia and 26,423 (94.8%) had no pre-eclampsia, of which 2,177 (7.8%) had no history of migraines and 24,246 (87.0%) had no pre-eclampion episodes in the year prior to the baselineIn an average of 22.6 years (629,353 people-years), 1,666 major CVD events occurredWomen with pre-eclampsia had 3.36 major CVD occurrences per 1,000 people a year, compared with 2.11 for women withno-precursor migrainesThe incidence of CVD in women with pre-eclampsia migraines was significantly higher than in obese women (2.29), high triglycerides (2.67), or low HDL cholesterol (2.63), but at a similar risk to patients with elevated systolic blood pressure (3.78), elevated total cholesterol (2.85), or family history of myocardial infarction (2.71)The incidence of CVD in women with diabetes (5.76) or smoking (4.29) was significantly higher than in women with pre-eclampsiaThe risk of CVD events in pre-eclampsia-related obese women increased by 1.01 cases per 1,000 people, and 2.57 cases were associated with diabetes
The study suggests that pre-eclampsia is an important factor in women's risk of cardiovascular disease
