Overall, women were more likely than men to suffer migraine headaches, Rose said. Whites got them more often than blacks did.
After adjusting for factors such as age, race, hypertension, smoking and total cholesterol, participants with a history of migraine or other headches with aura were three times more likely to report a history of exertional chest pain than those without a historyof headaches. No significant association was seen between headaches and verified coronary heart disease.
The World Health Organization's Rose angina questionnaire, which the scientists employed, is widely used in epidemiologic studies as a standard way to screen for the condition, the UNC scientist said. It is not a diagnostic test.
"Generally, a person is classified with 'Rose' angina based on how they respond to a series of questions about chest pain in response to exertion," she said.
Not all exertional chest pain meets the criteria of Rose angina, however. Studies report that those with Rose angina are more likely to be diagnosed with coronary heart disease later. But the association is far from perfect, and in studies to date, it is a better predictor in men than in women.
"Our assessment of aura was limited to visual aura, which is the most common and includes patient reports of seeing spots, jagged lines or heat waves in one or both eyes," Rose said.
Not all people with migraines experience auras and in the new study, the prevalence of migraine with aura was much lower than the prevalence of migraine without aura, she said.
"Auras tend to precede when migraine headache start, and so for some people they are a warning that the
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Contact: David Williamson
919-962-8596
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
27-Dec-2004