Washington, April 24 : Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have found that women who have a lifetime history of migraine register a lesser performance decline over time on cognitive tests than others who did not have migraine.

The scientists believe that medications for migraine, diet, and behaviour changes may play a significant role in protecting memories of women suffering from the disease.

Published in the American Academy of Neurology, the study followed 1,448 women, of whom 204 had migraine, while they underwent a series of cognitive tests beginning in 1993 and again approximately 12 years later.

While women with migraine performed worse on cognitive tests, such as word recall, at the beginning of the study, their performance declined 17 per cent less over time than others without the disease.

The researchers say that women over the age of 50, who had migraine, showed the least amount of cognitive decline on a test used to assess cognitive functioning.

“Some medications for migraine headaches, such as ibuprofen, which may have a protective effect on memory, may be partially responsible for our findings, but it’s unlikely to explain this association given we adjusted for this possibility in our study and the medications showed no indication of a significant protective effect,” said study author Dr. Amanda Kalaydjian.

The researchers also believe that another reason behind some improvement in the cognition of women with migraine might be the possibility of change in their diet or behaviours.

“For example, alternative treatment for migraine includes adequate sleep, as well as behavioral and relaxation techniques, and a reduction in caffeine,” said Dr. Kalaydjian.

“Despite these theories, it seems more likely that there may be some underlying biological mechanism, such as changes in blood vessels or underlying differences in brain activity, which results in decreased cognitive decline over time. More research is needed to fully understand how migraine affects cognition,” she added. (ANI)

Tags:memory-loss