Some types of headaches are much more common in women; for example, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in their 2009 pamphlet on headache, women are three times more likely to suffer from migraines than men. Of course, menstrual migraines are gender-specific, and many women suffer from this type of headache. Key factors leading to headaches in women are menstruation, stress and obesity.
Menstruation
Menstrual migraines are migraines that occur anytime from the few days before to the few days after a period, according to Lisa K. Mannix, M.D., in her article on dysmenorrhea--painful menstruation--and migraines. This headache is thought to be triggered by a sudden decrease in estrogen subsequent to a high level of estrogen, says Mannix.
She says migraines often begin with the first period and up to 24 percent of women ages 18 to 49 years suffer from menstrual migraines. In addition, up to 70 percent of females with migraines say there is a link between their migraines and their periods.
Mannix says research of women with menstrual migraines shows that women with these headaches have a 1.7 times greater risk for having a migraine in the 2 days before their periods and a 2.5 times greater risk of having a migraine in the first 3 days of menstruation as compared to other times of the month.
Menstrual migraines are often treated with triptan medications and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs--NSAIDs--says Mannix, and in some cases are treated with short-term therapy with estrogen gel or transdermal estrogen patches. In women with extremely severe migraines, longer periods of hormone therapy may be used.
Stress
Unusual stress is another trigger for migraine. Many women work hard all week and then hope to relax during the weekend, only to suffer from a migraine generated by the overload of heavy stress. Tension-type headaches are also often generated by stress, according to John Messmer of the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in his article on headaches. Relaxation therapy may help alleviate some of these headaches, as may antidepressants.
Weight
Some research indicates that overweight and obesity increase the risk for non-migraine headaches. In a study of data from more than 220,000 women, Scott W. Keith and colleagues analyzed the body mass index, or BMI, of the women and their prevalence of headaches. They found that women with a BMI of about 20, a normal BMI, had the lowest risk for headaches. As the BMI increased, so did the headache risk.
For example, women with a BMI of 30, indicating mild obesity, had about a 35 percent greater risk for headaches than women of normal weight. The greatest risk for headaches was among women with a BMI of 40--severe obesity--and women at this level had an 80 percent greater risk for headaches compared with the normal-sized women. The researchers than factored out alcohol consumption, hypertension and socioeconomic variables, but the strong direct relationship between headaches and overweight and obesity still held.
Keith and colleagues did not know why weight was a factor in headaches but speculated that further research should center on whether weight loss could decrease the prevalence of headaches in formerly overweight and obese women.
References
- The Medical Minute: Headaches--A Commonly Misunderstood Prolbem. June 7, 2006
- "Journal of Women's Health"; Menstrual-Related Pain Conditions: Dysmenorrhea and Migraine; Lisa K. Mannix, M.D.; 2008
- "Obesity"; BMI and Headache Among Women: Results from 11 Epidemiologic Datasets; Scott W. Keith, et al. February 2008
