Russian scientists have uncovered the genetic roots of migraine
MOSCOW, 6 APR — RIA Novosti. Biologists from the ITMO University have found that migraine can be associated with arterial hypertension and to develop hereditary reasons stated in the article, published in the journal Autonomic Neuroscience: Basic and Clinical.
“While we can’t accurately determine the nature of the relationship between migraine and cardiovascular disease, but it definitely is. Have migrantov more often than in the population, heredity burdened by hypertension and other pathologies of the heart and blood vessels. Such patients should be given exactly the same attention as those who already have such diseases. In both cases, migraines can cause serious complications,” explains Oleg Mamontov from ITMO University in St. Petersburg.
Migraine is a neurological disease, the most frequent and characteristic symptom of which is occasional or regular strong and painful headaches in one half of the head. The causes of pain can be different — physical stress, food, weather factors, lack of sleep, and much more.
As a rule, women suffer more migraines than men.
Sometimes a migraine is preceded by the so-called “aura” — a temporary deterioration in the perception of reality, which manifests itself in blurred vision, hallucinations, numbness or problems with speech. Recent studies show that the predisposition to migraine is mostly associated with a device of some genes, including those DNA regions that are responsible for the body’s response to cold.
Mamontov and his colleagues discovered another possible genetic cause of migraines, paying attention to the fact that many people who suffer from migraines, have an unusually high number of relatives with chronically high blood pressure.
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Scientists have explained the nature of the women’s headache
Intrigued by this factor, the scientists conducted a small survey and found that migrantov about two times more relatives with hypertension than in healthy people. This led the scientists to believe that both diseases can develop under the influence of the same genetic factors.
These factors, despite their similar nature, acting on the body both patients in different ways. As shown by experiments with volunteers, or suffering from hypertension or from migraine, the blood vessels last more actively respond to external stimuli, often resulting in abrupt contractions or expansions of the arteries and capillaries, and this was shown in people with migraine without hypertension and with hypertension.
“Normally, the body responds to cold — for example, attached to the breast the ice — three times the fall velocity of skin-muscular blood flow. Have migrantov it is reduced even more. But pure hypertensive patients respond to cold slightly. It turns out that migraine and hypertension are different ways, although the consequences of these diseases can be similar,” continues Mammoths.
Interestingly, due to the physiological characteristics of women more likely to have problems with the cardiovascular system, but among migrantov they are in the majority. Scientists believe that it is important to continue to explore joint manifestation of disease and take it into account in the treatment and monitoring of patients.