Migraines Increase Suicide Risk in Teens

Ivanhoe Newswire
Tuesday, May 1, 2007; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Frequent migraine headaches could cause teenagers much more than just pain.

Researchers in Taipei, Taiwan say teens who have chronic daily headaches, especially migraines, are more at risk for suicide than teens who don't have migraines.
They're also more likely to have other psychiatric disorders such as depression and panic disorder.

The study looked at 7,900 students between ages 12 and 14 at five middle schools in Taiwan. They also screened 121 teenagers with chronic daily headaches for psychiatric disorders. Chronic daily headache was defined as headaches 15 or more days a month for two or more hours a day, lasting for more than three months.

Results show nearly half of the students with chronic daily headaches had one or more psychiatric disorder. Of them, 21 percent had major depression; 19 percent had panic disorder; and 20 percent were at high risk of suicide. Participants who had migraines were most likely to have a psychiatric disorder and 3.5-times more likely than those without migraine.

The study also found teens whose migraines came with an aura -- a warning sensation before the headache -- were even more likely to have psychiatric disorders. They were six-times more likely to be at high suicide risk than those without migraine.

Researchers say they don't know exactly how migraines and psychiatric disorders are linked, but they know migraines, depression and suicidal tendencies are all related to serotonin levels in the brain. They recommend teens with chronic daily headache get screened for psychiatric disorders, so they can get the help they need.

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SOURCE: Neurology, 2007