NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters Health) -- Canadian investigators report that
weather conditions, specifically, the warm, westerly Chinook winds that occur in
the Canadian province of Alberta, can trigger migraine headaches.
"Patients have been telling us for years that the weather affects them,"
principal investigator Dr. Werner Becker told Reuters Health. Now "...we have
confirmed that, at least for these particular Chinook winds."
Becker and his associates at the University of Calgary in Alberta
collected data from 75 migraine patients who attended the university's Headache
Research Clinic. These data were then compared with weather reports in which
each day was classified as a Chinook, pre-Chinook, or non-Chinook day.
"Chinook winds are ideal for studying a link between a weather change and
migraine because they have a definite time of onset and are a profound weather
change," the authors explain in the January 25th issue of the journal Neurology.
The researchers note that these winds "are welcome by southern Alberta residents
because they bring moderate temperatures to the area during otherwise cold
winters."
Over a 2-year period, Becker's team found that 32 of the 75 patients
studied were more likely to report a headache during Chinook weather conditions
compared with non-Chinook days. They also found that these 32 subjects could be
broken down into two subgroups -- 17 were more likely to experience headache
during the pre-Chinook period, while 15 were more likely to experience headache
during the Chinook period, when the winds typically reached a velocity greater
than 24 miles per hour. Only two patients were more likely to get migraine
headaches under both of these weather conditions.
Becker's group suggests that these findings raise the possibility that
this Chinook-sensitive group of migraine patients may benefit from specialized
therapies, such as short-term prophylaxis administered during specific time
periods.
"There have been a lot of studies done on headache and the weather in the
past, and these results have been conflicting," Becker told Reuters Health.
"Some studies have found a relationship between headache and the weather, but a
lot of studies have been negative. Ours is the first study to show that this
particular weather change is related to migraine headaches."
The findings also indicate that "although migraine is a very common
condition, it is a complicated condition," he said. "And what we call 'migraine'
maybe represents a number of subgroups of disorders."
