Migraine and depression – Can depression transform episodic migraine?

Few of us would be surprised to hear that depression often occurs alongside chronic migraine. Who wouldn’t be depressed if they had a headache on more days than not?

However, a recent study on migraine and depression led by Dr Sait Ashina and colleagues at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York has found that in people with episodic migraine, (meaning fewer than 15 migraine days in a month) the presence of depression actually carried a higher risk of developing chronic migraine.

Migraine and depression

 

It also seems that the more severe the depression, the greater the risk.

Migraine sufferers with moderate or severe depression were more likely to transition to chronic migraine than those with mild or no depression. The reason for this association is not yet clear.

It is not yet known whether treatment of depression can prevent this transformation to chronic migraine.

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