Women using birth control used significantly more analgesics: 3.5 pills per migraine versus 2.8 per migraine for those not on birth control (P=0.001). Those who used birth control medication also had a significantly higher proportion of their migraines return within 24 hours following a pain-free interval (38.6% versus 22.7%, P=0.026). Menstrually related migraines were also more likely to recur within 24 hours for women taking birth control (66.0% versus 30.4%), but the study was not sufficiently powered to show significance.
Combat Troops Battle Headaches, Too
During the last three months of their tours of duty in Iraq, U.S. soldiers were prone to twice as many migraines as the general population, according to army researchers. This increased incidence persists for months after they return home, found a study presented at the American Headache Society meeting.
"Migraine headaches are unexpectedly common among military personnel serving in a combat zone," said Jay C. Erickson, M.D., a staff neurologist at Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis, Wash., and colleagues. "The results also suggest that migraine headaches are suboptimally managed in deployed military personnel."
Overall, 19% (524 of 2,697) survey respondents had definite migraine while in Iraq, while another 18% (480 of 2,697) had probable migraine for a total of 37% with episodes of either. Comparatively, an estimated 14% of Americans in the general population suffer migraine or probable migraine headaches.
