AHS: changes in weather can trigger mild migraines

Shuu-Jiun Wang, M.D., from the Taipei Veterans Hospital in Taiwan, and colleagues investigated the temporal relationship between weather and headache incidence in 66 patients with migraine, including 34 who reported sensitivity to temperature changes. The researchers found that, in the winter, temperature explained 16.5 percent of the variance of headache incidence, while in the summer, it accounted for 9.6 percent. For patients with self-reported temperature sensitivity, in winter, the explained variance increased to 29.2 percent. Temperature changes accounted for 20.9 and 4.8 percent, respectively, of incident mild and moderate-to-severe headaches.

Abouch V. Krymchantowski, M.D., Ph.D., and Carla C. Jevoux, M.D., Ph.D., from the Headache Center of Rio in Brazil, assessed whether different varieties of red wine have distinct effects in migraine. Forty regular red-wine drinkers who mentioned an association between wine and migraine drank four different half-bottles of red wine within an interval of at least four days and completed a headache calendar. The authors found that, of the 33 patients who completed the study, 87.8, 54.5, and 33.4 percent of participants had a migraine attack at least once, on at least two occasions, or on all four occasions, respectively. Tannat and Malbec varieties triggered migraine more frequently (51.7 and 48.2 percent, respectively).

"It is possible that different varieties of red wines with different content of tannins and resveratrol can trigger migraine differently," Krymchantowski said in a statement.

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