July 11, 2003 – A close, but still poorly understood, connection is said to unite migraines and depression, to the point where suffering from one increases the chances of suffering from the other.
This discovery stems from the two-year follow-up of 496 adults with previous migraines, 151 people with headaches but not migraines, and 539 healthy subjects.1. Researchers found that having migraines increased the risk of having severe depression fivefold, and conversely, people with depression were three times more likely to have migraines.
This link would indicate that the two problems have similar biological origins, potentially with respect to hormones or substances that transmit nerve impulses in the brain, which could have important implications for their clinical treatment.
What’s more, the researchers say, this finding seems to invalidate the notion that depression is a consequence of the constant pain of migraines. If this were true, they say, people with severe headaches (but not migraines) should also be more depressed, which they are not. Likewise, if depression causes headaches, people with depression should be at greater risk for all types of headaches, not just migraines.
In addition, other researchers suggest that people with depression may have difficulty metabolizing folic acid. After studying nearly 6,000 subjects, Norwegian researchers found that depression is more prevalent in people with high levels of homocysteine in their bodies, a substance that is normally destroyed by folic acid.2.
This finding supports the idea that folic acid could increase the effectiveness of antidepressants, or even help prevent depression.
Jean-Benoit Legault – PasseportSanté.net
According to Reuters Health and Associated Press; May 26, 2003.
1. Breslau N, Lipton RB, Stewart WF, Schultz LR, Welch KM. Comorbidity of migraine and depression: Investigating potential etiology and prognosis.Neurology 2003 Apr 22; 60 (8): 1308-12. [Consulté le 11 juillet 2003].
2. Bjelland I, Tell GS, Vollset SE, Refsum H, Ueland PM. Folate, Vitamin B12, Homocysteine, and the MTHFR 677C-> T Polymorphism in Anxiety and Depression: The Hordaland Homocysteine Study.Arch Gen Psychiatry 2003 Jun; 60 (6): 618-26. [Consulté le 10 juillet 2003].
