Cardiovascular Effects of Migraine Therapy
Migraine is a recurrent headache of moderate to severe intensity that is associated with gastrointestinal, neurologic, and autonomic symptoms. Medications used for the prophylaxis and the treatment of migraine have both favorable and detrimental cardiovascular (CV) effects. Thus, clinicians responsible for the care of patients with CV disorders should possess a familiarity of the desirable and undesirable CV effects of these medications. To ensure the optimal safety and efficacy of delivering care to such patients, a knowledge of the pharmacological properties of these medications and the underlying CV co-morbidities of the patient is needed when initiating or modifying migraine therapy. The objective of this review is to provide an overview of the CV effects of migraine therapy to empower clinicians with the ability to initiate or modify migraine therapy in a patient with CV disease in a safe and effective manner.
The American Migraine Study (AMS) II reported that 28 million people in the United States live with migraine. The overall prevalence was found to be 18.2% among females and 6.5% among males. These numbers were similar to those seen in the first AMS, conducted in 1989. At that time, it was shown that 18% of females and 6% of males suffered from migraine. The results of these two studies, as well as others, show that when using standardized diagnostic criteria, the prevalence of migraine in the United States has been stable over the past decade. Interestingly, half of the population in AMS II reported that the headaches were severe enough to affect their school and work productivity. The direct costs associated with migraine appears to be in excess of $1 billion per year, while the indirect costs to employers approaches $13 billion per year.
Migraine is a recurrent headache of moderate to severe intensity that is associated with gastrointestinal, neurologic, and autonomic symptoms. Medications used for the prophylaxis and the treatment of migraine have both favorable and detrimental cardiovascular (CV) effects. Thus, clinicians responsible for the care of patients with CV disorders should possess a familiarity of the desirable and undesirable CV effects of these medications. To ensure the optimal safety and efficacy of delivering care to such patients, a knowledge of the pharmacological properties of these medications and the underlying CV co-morbidities of the patient is needed when initiating or modifying migraine therapy. The objective of this review is to provide an overview of the CV effects of migraine therapy to empower clinicians with the ability to initiate or modify migraine therapy in a patient with CV disease in a safe and effective manner.
The American Migraine Study (AMS) II reported that 28 million people in the United States live with migraine. The overall prevalence was found to be 18.2% among females and 6.5% among males. These numbers were similar to those seen in the first AMS, conducted in 1989. At that time, it was shown that 18% of females and 6% of males suffered from migraine. The results of these two studies, as well as others, show that when using standardized diagnostic criteria, the prevalence of migraine in the United States has been stable over the past decade. Interestingly, half of the population in AMS II reported that the headaches were severe enough to affect their school and work productivity. The direct costs associated with migraine appears to be in excess of $1 billion per year, while the indirect costs to employers approaches $13 billion per year.
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