Patients with migraine, in particular migraine with aura, were more likely to have elevated high sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), evident only among those with insomnia, according to a recent cross-sectional study. A total of 20,486 (63%) out of 32,591 individuals, aged 40 years and older, participated in the seventh wave of the Tromsø study conducted in 2015 and 2016, and had valid information on headache, insomnia, and high sensitivity CRP. Researchers found:
- A total of 6290 participants (30.7%) suffered from headache during the last year.
- Among these, 1736 (8.5%) fulfilled the criteria of migraine, 991 (4.8%) had migraine with aura, 746 (3.6%) migraine without aura (3.8%), and 4554 (22.2%) had non-migrainous headache.
- In the final multi-adjusted analysis, elevated high sensitivity CRP was associated with headache, migraine, and migraine with aura.
- No association was found between elevated high sensitivity CRP and migraine without aura or non-migrainous headache.
- The association between high sensitivity CRP and migraine was strongly dependent on insomnia status.
- Among individuals with insomnia, elevated high sensitivity CRP was associated with migraine, and migraine with aura, whereas no such relationship was found among those without insomnia.
Hagen K, Hopstock LA, Eggen AE, Mathiesen EB, Bilsen KB. Does insomnia modify the association between C-reactive protein and migraine? The Tromsø Study 2015–2016. [Published online ahead of print March 12, 2019]. Cephalalgia. doi:10.1177%2F0333102418825370.