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including stress, depression, and sleep problems, new research shows.
“This study adds to an ever-growing body of research that points to exercise as an effective way to promote general well-being and reduce monthly migraine days,” said study investigator Mason Dyess, DO, from the University of Washington, Seattle. “This study also highlights that exercise is an underutilized resource in migraine sufferers.”
The findings were released ahead of the study’s scheduled presentation at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology..
An accessible prophylactic
Dr. Dyess said that the COVID-19 pandemic prompted him and his colleagues to investigate how many patients with migraine in their headache clinic were utilizing “one of the most accessible prevention tools for migraine – exercise.”
“The pandemic has restricted physical and financial access to care for patients in our community and across the country, so understanding how exercise is being used by our patients and its effect on monthly migraine days has never been more important,” Dr. Dyess said.
The study involved 4,647 people diagnosed with migraine. About three-fourths had chronic migraine (at least 15 migraine days a month) and about one-quarter had episodic migraine (up to 14 monthly migraine days).
The patients provided information via a questionnaire about their migraine characteristics, sleep, depression, stress, anxiety, and the amount of moderate to vigorous exercise they got each week.
Only 27% of patients reported getting at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each week, the minimum amount recommended by the World Health Organization.
Patients with migraine who did not achieve the minimum 2.5 hours of moderate to vigorous exercise recommended per week had increased rates of depression, anxiety, and sleep problems.
A word of caution
Depression was reported by 47% of patients who reported no exercise, compared with 25% of people who reported the recommended amount of weekly exercise.
Anxiety was reported by 39% of people who did not exercise, compared with 28% of those who got the recommended 150-plus minutes of exercise. Sleep problems were reported by 77% of the nonexercisers versus 61% of those who achieved the recommended exercise amount.
Exercise also appeared to reduce the risk for migraine attacks.
Among patients who did not exercise, 48% had high headache frequency (25-plus headache days per month), while only 5% had low headache frequency (0-4 headache days per month).
In contrast, of people who got the recommended 150-plus minutes of exercise per week, 28% had high headache frequency and 10% had low headache frequency.
“Exercise should be part of the discussion while counseling patients with migraines. This is a resource available across the socioeconomic spectrum that is easily integrated into the plan of care for many patients,” said Dr. Dyess.
However, he cautioned that there is a subgroup of migraine patients for whom moderate to vigorous exercise is simply not tolerable. “In these patients, research points to the promotion of a healthy diet and lifestyle with gentle movement exercises like yoga rather than aggressively pursuing moderate or vigorous exercise regimens,” Dr. Dyess said.
A ‘puzzling’ relationship
Reached for comment, Shaheen Lakhan, MD, PhD, a neurologist in Newton, Mass., and executive director of Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation, said the interaction of exercise and migraine is “puzzling.”
“First, it is well known that strenuous physical exercise may aggravate or even trigger migraine attacks. These are found even in the migraine diagnostic criteria,” said Dr. Lakhan. “Interestingly, there is a body of evidence that demonstrates a basic level of exercise as prophylactic treatment for migraine.”
Dr. Lakhan said that exercise is “definitely underutilized in clinical practice for migraine for these reasons: Migraineurs have fear avoidance behavior given the strenuous physical exercise as a potential trigger.”
Also weighing in on the study, Noah Rosen, MD, director of Northwell Health’s Headache Center in Great Neck, N.Y., said it’s a “useful reminder of the benefits that can be achieved without medication, but we need more information to give better guidance. I wish this study had given us more information as to what type of exercise was best for people with migraine, whether active group sports, running, swimming, or others.”
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
including stress, depression, and sleep problems, new research shows.
“This study adds to an ever-growing body of research that points to exercise as an effective way to promote general well-being and reduce monthly migraine days,” said study investigator Mason Dyess, DO, from the University of Washington, Seattle. “This study also highlights that exercise is an underutilized resource in migraine sufferers.”
The findings were released ahead of the study’s scheduled presentation at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology..
An accessible prophylactic
Dr. Dyess said that the COVID-19 pandemic prompted him and his colleagues to investigate how many patients with migraine in their headache clinic were utilizing “one of the most accessible prevention tools for migraine – exercise.”
“The pandemic has restricted physical and financial access to care for patients in our community and across the country, so understanding how exercise is being used by our patients and its effect on monthly migraine days has never been more important,” Dr. Dyess said.
The study involved 4,647 people diagnosed with migraine. About three-fourths had chronic migraine (at least 15 migraine days a month) and about one-quarter had episodic migraine (up to 14 monthly migraine days).
The patients provided information via a questionnaire about their migraine characteristics, sleep, depression, stress, anxiety, and the amount of moderate to vigorous exercise they got each week.
Only 27% of patients reported getting at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each week, the minimum amount recommended by the World Health Organization.
Patients with migraine who did not achieve the minimum 2.5 hours of moderate to vigorous exercise recommended per week had increased rates of depression, anxiety, and sleep problems.
A word of caution
Depression was reported by 47% of patients who reported no exercise, compared with 25% of people who reported the recommended amount of weekly exercise.
Anxiety was reported by 39% of people who did not exercise, compared with 28% of those who got the recommended 150-plus minutes of exercise. Sleep problems were reported by 77% of the nonexercisers versus 61% of those who achieved the recommended exercise amount.
Exercise also appeared to reduce the risk for migraine attacks.
Among patients who did not exercise, 48% had high headache frequency (25-plus headache days per month), while only 5% had low headache frequency (0-4 headache days per month).
In contrast, of people who got the recommended 150-plus minutes of exercise per week, 28% had high headache frequency and 10% had low headache frequency.
“Exercise should be part of the discussion while counseling patients with migraines. This is a resource available across the socioeconomic spectrum that is easily integrated into the plan of care for many patients,” said Dr. Dyess.
However, he cautioned that there is a subgroup of migraine patients for whom moderate to vigorous exercise is simply not tolerable. “In these patients, research points to the promotion of a healthy diet and lifestyle with gentle movement exercises like yoga rather than aggressively pursuing moderate or vigorous exercise regimens,” Dr. Dyess said.
A ‘puzzling’ relationship
Reached for comment, Shaheen Lakhan, MD, PhD, a neurologist in Newton, Mass., and executive director of Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation, said the interaction of exercise and migraine is “puzzling.”
“First, it is well known that strenuous physical exercise may aggravate or even trigger migraine attacks. These are found even in the migraine diagnostic criteria,” said Dr. Lakhan. “Interestingly, there is a body of evidence that demonstrates a basic level of exercise as prophylactic treatment for migraine.”
Dr. Lakhan said that exercise is “definitely underutilized in clinical practice for migraine for these reasons: Migraineurs have fear avoidance behavior given the strenuous physical exercise as a potential trigger.”
Also weighing in on the study, Noah Rosen, MD, director of Northwell Health’s Headache Center in Great Neck, N.Y., said it’s a “useful reminder of the benefits that can be achieved without medication, but we need more information to give better guidance. I wish this study had given us more information as to what type of exercise was best for people with migraine, whether active group sports, running, swimming, or others.”
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
including stress, depression, and sleep problems, new research shows.
“This study adds to an ever-growing body of research that points to exercise as an effective way to promote general well-being and reduce monthly migraine days,” said study investigator Mason Dyess, DO, from the University of Washington, Seattle. “This study also highlights that exercise is an underutilized resource in migraine sufferers.”
The findings were released ahead of the study’s scheduled presentation at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology..
An accessible prophylactic
Dr. Dyess said that the COVID-19 pandemic prompted him and his colleagues to investigate how many patients with migraine in their headache clinic were utilizing “one of the most accessible prevention tools for migraine – exercise.”
“The pandemic has restricted physical and financial access to care for patients in our community and across the country, so understanding how exercise is being used by our patients and its effect on monthly migraine days has never been more important,” Dr. Dyess said.
The study involved 4,647 people diagnosed with migraine. About three-fourths had chronic migraine (at least 15 migraine days a month) and about one-quarter had episodic migraine (up to 14 monthly migraine days).
The patients provided information via a questionnaire about their migraine characteristics, sleep, depression, stress, anxiety, and the amount of moderate to vigorous exercise they got each week.
Only 27% of patients reported getting at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each week, the minimum amount recommended by the World Health Organization.
Patients with migraine who did not achieve the minimum 2.5 hours of moderate to vigorous exercise recommended per week had increased rates of depression, anxiety, and sleep problems.
A word of caution
Depression was reported by 47% of patients who reported no exercise, compared with 25% of people who reported the recommended amount of weekly exercise.
Anxiety was reported by 39% of people who did not exercise, compared with 28% of those who got the recommended 150-plus minutes of exercise. Sleep problems were reported by 77% of the nonexercisers versus 61% of those who achieved the recommended exercise amount.
Exercise also appeared to reduce the risk for migraine attacks.
Among patients who did not exercise, 48% had high headache frequency (25-plus headache days per month), while only 5% had low headache frequency (0-4 headache days per month).
In contrast, of people who got the recommended 150-plus minutes of exercise per week, 28% had high headache frequency and 10% had low headache frequency.
“Exercise should be part of the discussion while counseling patients with migraines. This is a resource available across the socioeconomic spectrum that is easily integrated into the plan of care for many patients,” said Dr. Dyess.
However, he cautioned that there is a subgroup of migraine patients for whom moderate to vigorous exercise is simply not tolerable. “In these patients, research points to the promotion of a healthy diet and lifestyle with gentle movement exercises like yoga rather than aggressively pursuing moderate or vigorous exercise regimens,” Dr. Dyess said.
A ‘puzzling’ relationship
Reached for comment, Shaheen Lakhan, MD, PhD, a neurologist in Newton, Mass., and executive director of Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation, said the interaction of exercise and migraine is “puzzling.”
“First, it is well known that strenuous physical exercise may aggravate or even trigger migraine attacks. These are found even in the migraine diagnostic criteria,” said Dr. Lakhan. “Interestingly, there is a body of evidence that demonstrates a basic level of exercise as prophylactic treatment for migraine.”
Dr. Lakhan said that exercise is “definitely underutilized in clinical practice for migraine for these reasons: Migraineurs have fear avoidance behavior given the strenuous physical exercise as a potential trigger.”
Also weighing in on the study, Noah Rosen, MD, director of Northwell Health’s Headache Center in Great Neck, N.Y., said it’s a “useful reminder of the benefits that can be achieved without medication, but we need more information to give better guidance. I wish this study had given us more information as to what type of exercise was best for people with migraine, whether active group sports, running, swimming, or others.”
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
FROM AAN 2021