Are the Causes of Migraines Hereditary

When considering health problems worldwide, migraine headaches may not account for huge death tolls, but their impact is nevertheless very severe. In 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) who reported on the effects and causes of migraines, described migraines and other headache disorders as a global public health calamity.

Contrary to many people’s views, migraine headaches are actually more than just unpleasant, they can be physically debilitating. The disabling effects of migraine headache were also highlighted by the WHO in the report.

Consequently, as a result of the increasing global recognition of migraine as a health threat, an increasing amount of genetic research into the condition has taken place recently.

Historically, doctors have known that a child who’s parents both suffer from migraine is much more likely to suffer themselves.

A study conducted recently in Denmark, for example, which focused particularly on sets of twins revealed that common migraine is almost sixty one percent genetic. It was also discovered in the same study that the causes of migraines are a multi-genomic condition, meaning that several different genes or their combinations are required for it to be inherited.

A recent Dutch study confirmed that familial hemiplegic migraine follows a simple inheritance pattern in nearly seventy five percent of cases. Bizarrely, the common migraine, despite its name was found to be much more complex in make up and susceptibility.

Researchers at Griffith University in Queensland Australia have been successful in matching genetic loci for migraines in family groups. Researchers have also been studying multi-generational migraine sufferers within the same family for years. Amazingly, researchers have been able to identify three different genetic regions on the chromosomes 1, 19, and X that contain genes which increase migraine susceptibility. The long term hope of these studies is that a genetic cure will be found for the migraine headache. That will be a life altering breakthrough for the millions of chronic migraine sufferers worldwide.

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