What is the reason for frequent migraines

Migraine is a relatively common disease characterized by headaches. The incidence rate in women is higher than in men. It is hereditary and is also closely related to mental factors. Everyone must have experienced the feeling of headache. If you suffer from frequent migraines, it must be unbearable. Finding the cause will help us better solve it. So, what is the cause of frequent migraines? Let’s take a look below.

The cause of migraine is still unclear, but it may be related to the following factors:

Genetic factors

About 60% of migraine patients have a family history, and the risk of migraine in their relatives is 3 to 6 times that of the general population. No consistent Mendelian inheritance pattern has been found in familial migraine patients, reflecting the interaction between different penetrances and polygenic genetic characteristics and environmental factors. Familial hemiplegic migraine is a clear autosomal dominant inheritance with highly abnormal penetrance, which has been located at three disease gene loci: 19p13 (associated with mistranslation mutations in the voltage-gated P/Q calcium channel gene expressed in the brain), 1q21, and 1q31.

Endocrine and metabolic factors

The disease occurs more frequently in females than in males, usually during adolescence, with attacks more likely to occur during menstruation, and attacks decrease or stop during pregnancy or after menopause. This suggests that endocrine and metabolic factors are involved in the pathogenesis of migraine. In addition, metabolic abnormalities such as serotonin (5-HT), norepinephrine, substance P and arachidonic acid can also affect the occurrence of migraine.

Diet and psychological factors

Migraine attacks can be triggered by certain foods and drugs, including cheese containing tyramine, meat and pickled foods containing nitrite preservatives, chocolate containing phenylethylamine, food additives such as monosodium glutamate (MSG), red wine and wine, etc. Medications include oral contraceptives and vasodilators such as nitroglycerin. Other environmental and mental factors such as tension, overwork, emotional excitement, excessive or insufficient sleep, menstruation, and strong light can also trigger it.

Disease prevention

1. Avoid headache triggers: To prevent the onset of migraines, first eliminate or reduce the triggers of migraines. In daily life, avoid direct stimulation from strong light, such as avoiding looking directly at reflections from car windows and avoiding looking from a darker room to a brighter outdoor space. Avoid looking into strong neon lights. Avoid emotional stress, avoid taking medications such as vasodilators, avoid drinking red wine and eating foods containing cheese, coffee, chocolate, smoked fish, etc.

2. Drug treatment: Preventive treatment is applicable to: ① patients with frequent attacks, especially those with attacks more than once a week that seriously affect their daily life and work; ② patients for whom acute treatment is ineffective or who are unable to undergo acute treatment due to side effects and contraindications; ③ special variants of migraine that may cause permanent neurological deficits, such as hemiplegic migraine, basilar migraine or migraine infarction. Preventive medications need to be taken daily and take at least 2 weeks to be effective. If effective, continue taking it for 6 months, then gradually reduce the dosage until it is stopped. Drugs used clinically for the prevention of migraine include: ① β-adrenergic receptor blockers, such as propranolol and metoprolol; ② calcium ion blockers, such as flunarizine and verapamil; ③ antiepileptic drugs, such as valproic acid and topiramate; ④ antidepressants, such as amitriptyline and fluoxetine; ⑤ 5-HT receptor antagonists, such as pizotifen. Among them, propranolol, amitriptyline and valproic acid, three structurally unrelated drugs, are the main preventive treatment drugs. If one drug is ineffective, another drug can be chosen.