Journal of the neurological sciences
-
Migraine is an independent risk factor for ischemic stroke, mainly in the subpopulation of women with migraine with aura who are younger than 45 years, particularly those that use estrogen containing oral contraceptives. Migraine however should be considered a benign condition as the absolute increase of stroke risk is small. Migraine is also associated with a high prevalence of cerebral white matter hyperintensities, occurring in the deep and periventricular white matter as well as infratentorial, mainly pontine. ⋯ A population-based twin study showed that a lifetime migraine diagnosis was not associated with cognitive deficits in middle-aged subjects. A long-term prospective study, assessing cognitive and memory changes in ageing individuals with and without a history of migraine, showed that migraineurs do not exhibit more decline on cognitive tests over time versus controls. Migraine is certainly not a recognized risk factor for (vascular) dementia.