WEDNESDAY, Jan. 13, 2009 (Health.com) — People who tend to get migraines are also at risk for depression, and the reverse is true as well—if you’re depressed, you’re more likely to get the killer headaches.
Now, a new study suggests that the link may be due to an underlying genetic propensity that increases the risk of both conditions, rather than one causing the other. (Some researchers have speculated that the stress of migraines might lead to depression, or that migraines are a symptom of depression.)
Anine H. Stam, MD, a neurologist at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, and colleagues made the discovery by looking at a unique group of people—2,600 Dutch citizens descended from just 22 couples. Because the study participants were so closely related, the researchers were able to trace genetic connections that typically can only be found by studying individual families or twins.
The researchers found that people who experienced migraines were 43% more likely to be depressed than people who were migraine-free. And people who had migraines with aura (visual disturbances such as flashing lights) were even more likely to be depressed—they had a 70% greater risk than their headache-free peers. (The overall rates of migraine and depression in the study were comparable to those in the general population.)
The researchers calculated that 77% and 96% of a person’s susceptibility to migraines with and without aura, respectively, is due to genetic rather than environmental factors (which is known as heritability). When they looked at the heritability of depression in people with or without the headaches, they found a strong genetic link between the two conditions, according to the study, which was published in the journal Neurology.
Next page: Not all experts are convinced
