There are nearly 30 million migraine sufferers in The United States. Have you ever wondered where you stand in comparison to other migraine sufferers? You may be surprised…
Migraine experiences are varied. It can be hard to determine a specific level of risk with so many factors coming into play. So many, in fact, it isn’t entirely practical to look at most of them for any one reason. The risks, triggers, and stages of a migraine are too varied to consider in one quick article. Regardless, a look at a few migraine risk factors can provide an informative look at how you relate to others who suffer from migraines.
There are three top-level risk factors that we can look at to help us understand where we fit: sex, age, and genetics.
As we begin, it’s important to note that while it’s easy to pool risk factors together into statistics, it isn’t worthwhile to use these factors as a predictor. These risk factors are best used to determine where you fit in the migraine community and where to look for shared experiences, helpmeets, and solutions.
Sex
First is an obvious and important risk factor: sex. It is widely reported that “women have migraines three times more than men.” This is a confusing stat, so let’s break it down and understand what it really means…
What it doesn’t mean is that all women have migraines, or that women are having migraine attacks three times more often than men.
Rather, this stat reflects that for every one male who has a migraine there are three females who’ve had at least one migraine attack. So it helps us with the ratio between men and women but doesn’t tell us much about the volume of women overall. Let’s dig a little deeper…
According to epidemiological surveys in the United States, as high as 18 percent of all women have had a migraine. That’s 180 out of every 1,000 women, which is a lot.
So what’s the big picture?
- For every 1,000 women, 180 suffer migraines
- For every 1,000 men, 60 suffer migraines
When we consider both women and men together, about 11 percent of our total population suffers migraines.
When you look at that 11 percent alone and compare migraine sufferers by sex:
- 3/4 of migraine sufferers are women.
- 1/4 of migraine sufferers are men.
So, for reasons we won’t dive into here, women are more likely than men to suffer from migraine attacks by a ratio of 3 to 1. In the battle of the sexes, not one woman considers this a win. And trust me; the men aren’t cheering, either.
Age
Next, let’s take a look at age.
Most people who suffer migraines start having them as early as 10 years old. Some start as late as 40 years old. That’s a pretty wide range of when migraines can begin for a person.
Unfortunately, this means if you are younger than 40 and haven’t yet had a migraine, there is a slight chance you still might.
Women typically find that their migraines get better or go away completely after age 50. This appears to have a lot to do with reduced fluctuations in hormone activity and menopause. A small consolation, I know.
For men, hormonal fluctuations are less pronounced, and menopause is not a factor. Migraines can continue at full strength well after age 50 for men. No reason to celebrate here, either.
For most, the worst migraine activity will be between the ages of 30 and 40.
Genetics
You’ll find that the genetic aspect of migraines is typically discussed as “family history.” This area of study looks at the family relationships of migraine sufferers.
80 percent of those who suffer from migraines have a family member who also gets them.
If you suffer from migraines and your partner does not, there is a 50 percent chance that your child will also have them. If both you and your partner suffer from migraines, there is a 75 percent chance your child will have them, too.
Importantly, genetics is not the only factor. This means that some migraine sufferers, including myself, may have parents who do not suffer migraines.
…Which brings us to the “other” risk factors. When it comes to migraines, there are too many to review in a single article, but here are some additional risk factors that are worth looking into…
Other Risk Factors
Depression seems to play a role in migraine activity. If you are suffering from depression there is a greater chance of experiencing a migraine.
Anxiety can also play a role in migraines. Bear in mind that there is limited research in these areas, and one doesn’t necessarily mean the other will occur, but some research indicates that anxiety can trigger a migraine.
Bipolar disorder has been linked to migraine activity. Again, this research shows that people with bipolar disorder have also had migraines. The trigger does not seem to be well understood.
Sleep disorders can trigger a migraine. It is understood that radical swings in emotion, hormones, or restfulness can trigger a migraine. Sleep disorders will cause swings in sleep and restfulness which can bring on an attack.
Epilepsy is also a condition that has been shown to trigger migraines.
There are many other factors that can trigger migraines or increase your odds of getting them. We’ll look into more of these in future articles.
In the meantime, one thing you can do to help identify your triggers is tracking your migraine attacks. Simple Migraine Tracker is a one-tap solution to help you record when you have a migraine so you can analyze for patterns and identify triggers.
Simple Migraine Tracker gives you all the data you need with a single tap of a button, so you don’t have to play 20-questions when you are feeling your worst.
Simple Migraine Tracker is a free app in the App Store.