6 New Developments in Migraine

Food insecurity and migraine go hand in hand. In a study of food insecurity and migraine, 11% of US adults aged 24 to 32 years said they were food insecure. Among them, 24% had a migraine diagnosis, compared with 14% of young adults who were not food insecure. Food insecurity may lead to migraine triggers (eg, missed meals), and migraine may contribute to food insecurity (eg, poor work productivity resulting in lost employment). Screening for food insecurity among patients with migraine is suggested.

Anxiety sensitivity linked with migraine severity. Anxiety sensitivity is associated with both psychiatric symptoms and migraine severity in women. In a cross‐sectional study, anxiety sensitivity cognitive and social concerns were most strongly correlated with severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms. All facets of anxiety sensitivity were related to fear of head pain. The anxiety sensitivity cognitive concern facet was uniquely related to headache patterns (eg, longer migraine attack duration and pain intensity). The authors suggested targeting anxiety sensitivity in patients to achieve better headache outcomes.

Supraorbital stimulation could prevent chronic migraine. In a study of noninvasive, transcutaneous supraorbital nerve stimulation (tSNS) for patients with chronic migraine, there was a significant 4-day decrease in mean monthly days with moderate or severe headache and a significant reduction in mean monthly days with any headache. There were nonsignificant reductions in mean monthly total headache days and mean monthly days with moderate or severe headache. The authors suggested that tSNS could have preventive properties but the effect may be mild or controversial.

Hunting for good migraine questionnaires. Investigators conducted the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT4) to assess the validity of questionnaire-based headache diagnoses. After finding the best agreements for self-reported lifetime migraine, self-reported active migraine, liberal criteria of migraine, and ICDH3-based migraine ≥1 days/month, they concluded that the HUNT4 questionnaire is a valid tool for identifying persons who have these kinds of migraine.

Mothers with migraine have babies with colic. Mothers who have migraine are more likely to have a baby with colic than those who do not. In a cross-sectional online survey study, maternal migraine was associated with increased odds of infant colic. Among mothers with migraine, headache frequency ≥15 days/month was associated with higher risk of infant colic and anxiety was borderline associated. Paternal migraine was not associated with colic. The authors suggested clinicians offer counseling to parents with a maternal history of migraine.

Students with migraine not saved by the bell. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends high schools start no earlier than 8:30 AM so adolescents can get adequate sleep, but in a recent study, high school start time did not have a big effect on headache frequency in students with migraine. Mean self‐reported headache days/month and median self‐reported total hours of sleep/school night were similar in later and earlier start time groups. Hours of sleep did not correlate with headache days/month.