Migraines with Pill up stroke risk

FEMALE migraine sufferers who take the Pill are up to eight times more likely to have a stroke than those not using the oral contraceptive, new research has found.

Overall, migraine sufferers were found to be twice as likely to suffer a stroke than other people.

But for women on the Pill, the risk of stroke increased eight-fold.

The researchers, from Canada, the US and Spain, said more research was needed to look at the risk of stroke for female migraine sufferers who also take the Pill.

A review of 14 studies into the link between migraine and stroke, published on bmj.com, concluded that the risk of stroke for migraine sufferers was 2.16 times that for non-sufferers.

The team, from the University of Washington, Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal and the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, found different levels of risk for different types of migraine.

Those who had interrupted vision from light effects - aura - with their migraine were at a slightly higher risk of stroke than those without - 2.16 times more likely to suffer a stroke compared to 1.86.

But the most marked increase in risk was among those women taking the Pill.

“The risk of stroke among oral contraceptive users is very high, although these data come from only three studies,” the researchers said.

The researchers said the increased risk of stroke was probably down to the reduced blood flow to the brain which usually occurred during a migraine.

Women are more likely to suffer from migraine, with one-in-four affected, compared to one-in-12 men.