The relationship between migraine and cardiovascular diseases: review on evidence

Migraine is a chronic and progressive disorder that is associated with severe، pulsating and one-sided headache. Several studies showed that migraine is a risk factor for incidence of vascular disorders and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). So، present study aimed to review the evidences in relationship between migraine and CVDs. This review study was done by searching on PubMed، Scopus، Science Direct and Web of Science by entering “Cardiovascular diseases”، “Migraine”، “Headache” and “Metabolic Risk Factor” as keywords. In this study، clinical trial، cross-sectional، retrospective and prospective studies which were published during 2005 to 2014 were reviewed. We included studies that were diagnosed migraine based on IHS criteria and were done on human، and excluded non-English language articles and studies that investigated headaches as the main aim. In most evaluated studies، there was a positive and significant association between migraine with aura (MA) (migraine with visual disorders) and incidence of CVDs like myocardial infarction and angina. However، findings about migraine without aura (MOA) and CVDs were inconsistent and in most studies، there was not significant association between MOA and CVDs.