Association of migraine and obesity: A review of literature

authors:

avatar Omid Sadeghi 1 , avatar Morteza Nasiri , * , avatar Gh Askari 1 , avatar Gholamreza Askari 1

School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Journal of Inflammatory Diseases: Vol.19, issue 1; 56-63
article type: issue_documents_importer

how to cite: Sadeghi O, Nasiri M, Askari G, Askari G. Association of migraine and obesity: A review of literature. J Inflamm Dis. 2015;19(1):e155891. 

Abstract

  Background: Migraine is one of the main reasons for primary and secondary headaches worldwide and has significant effects on patients’ life . Based on recent studies, obesity may affect the severity, frequency and duration of migraine attacks.   Objective: This aim of this study was to review the literature on the association of migraine and obesity.   Methods: In t his review, databases of PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct and Web of Science were searched using “migraine”, “headache”, “obesity” and “overweight” as keywords. Studies published between 2005 and 2014 were reviewed. Human studies in which migraine was diagnosed based on the International Headache Society (IHS) criteria were included. Articles with non-English languages and studies on headache as the main purpose were excluded. 10 articles met the inclusion criteria.   Findings: In most evaluated studies, the association of obesity (BMI≥30) and morbid obesity (BMI≥35) with high frequency of migraine attacks and frequent migraine headaches was significant. This association was more significant in younger subjects and subjects under 55 years old. There was no association between obesity and migraine symptoms (severity, frequency and duration of headache) in only one study. Another study indicated that BMI≤18.5 was associated with migraine.   Conclusion: With regards to the results, general and abdominal obesity can increase the frequency of migraine attacks however, more studies are recommended.       Citation: Sadeghi O, Nasiri M, Askari Gh, Maghsoudi Z. Association of migraine and obesity: A review of literature. J Qazvin Univ Med Sci. 2015 19 (1): 56-63.