We know that a migraine attack can trigger for many reasons : a glass of white wine, a long day in front of the computer screen, an afternoon on the beach in full sun without protective glasses… To this long list, researchers from the University of Mississippi have just added ” lack of sleep”, by publishing a study on the link between sleep and migraine in the American magazine Headache.
For this study, 292 students with migraine (70% of whom were girls) agreed to serve as guinea pigs. They scrupulously kept a kind of diary of their sleep (number of hours, difficulty falling asleep, naps, etc.) and they answered questionnaires on their state of health (and in particular on the possible existence of a form of anxiety or depression) and the evolution of their migraines. These data were then cross-referenced with that of a group of students who never had a headache.
In conclusion, researchers at the University of Mississippi found that students who suffered from regular migraine attacks were also those whose sleep was poor or whose nights were too short.
No wonder for these researchers who know that poor quality sleep prevents diving into deep sleep phases, which are necessary to produce serotonin and dopamine, two neurotransmitters that send signals of well-being to the brain.
