Is this the cause of migraine misery? MRIs Show People Suffering from Debilitating Headaches Have Physical Changes in the Brain
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles analyzed 25 brain scans
Found that migraineurs had enlarged, fluid-filled spaces in their brains
They suggested that this could be due to problems draining fluid from the organ.
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People who suffer from migraines have physical changes in their brains, a study has found for the first time.
MRIs show that they have enlarged, fluid-filled spaces surrounding blood vessels in the central regions of the brain.
Researchers believe that people who suffer from chronic migraines may have problems with the part of the brain responsible for removing waste.
Migraines are intense headaches that leave patients with a throbbing pain or throbbing sensation in the head and nausea, weakness, and sensitivity to light.
They can take days to disappear, putting patients out of work for days and costing the US economy about $11 billion a year according to estimates.
It is estimated that around 37 million people in the US suffer from migraines each year, with women being up to three times more likely to be affected.
It comes after a separate study found that long-term covid patients also suffer physical changes in the brain, in regions responsible for tiredness and cognition.
The image above is the brain of a patient suffering from migraines (left) and not (right). Migraineurs have more enlarged perivascular spaces (shown with arrows) within the semioval region.
The image above is the brain of a patient with migraine (left) and a patient who does not have migraines (right). The scientists found that migraineurs had more white matter hyperintensities (shown by white arrows) which are related to having more enlarged perivascular spaces.
Both brain scans shown above are from patients suffering from migraines. The scan on the left side shows microhemorrhages in the brain (indicated by a white arrow), while the other side shows a more prominent cortical vessel, or central vein deep in the brain.
Wilson Xu, a neurology researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, who led the research, said: “In people with chronic migraines and episodic migraines without aura, there are significant changes in the perivascular spaces of a region of the brain called the centrum semiovale. . .
‘These changes have never been reported before.’ He added: ‘The perivascular spaces are part of a fluid removal system in the brain.
“Studying how they contribute to migraine could help us better understand the complexities of how migraines occur.”
The latest study looked at the brains of 25 people between the ages of 25 and 60.
All were healthy and had no cognitive impairment, brain tumor, prior intracranial surgery, or any known psychological problems.
Ten participants suffered from chronic migraines, or debilitating headaches that lasted more than two weeks each month.
Ten other participants had episodic migraines, which last less than two weeks each month.
The two groups were matched against five age-matched controls who did not have migraines.
All participants underwent a high-resolution brain scan known as a 7T scan, which is capable of creating much higher resolution images than a standard MRI.
The results showed that migraineurs had significantly more enlarged perivascular spaces, fluid-filled sacs that surrounded certain blood vessels in various organs, including the brain.
They were most common in the centrum semiovale, the central area of white matter that lies beneath the cerebral cortex.
Soluble proteins and wastes are normally removed by a system in the brain called the glymphatic system.
But the enlarged pockets of fluid in the brains of migraineurs suggest the system isn’t working properly, the researchers said.
The findings will be presented today at the annual conference of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago, Ill.