Add migraine headaches to the list of ailments helped by CPAP. New research presented at the recent annual meeting of the European Neurological Society (ENS), showed that CPAP treatment can decrease the frequency, intensity, and duration of migraine attacks. Medication use and lost days from work also went down.
In results presented at the 23rd ENS meeting in Barcelona, Hildegard Hidalgo, MD, from the Department of Neurology at Kamillus-Klinik in Asbach, Germany, said that 25% of patients with OSA also have migraines, and that the frequency of OSA in patients with migraine is similar to that in the general population.
According to a conference wrapup in the website Medscape, the researchers screened 314 potential participants with OSA. Inclusion criteria were an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) greater than 15 or greater than 5 with clinical symptoms (excessive daytime sleepiness, nonrefreshing sleep, sleep fragmentation, nocturia, decreased concentration, memory loss, or morning headaches), and a diagnosis of migraine according to International Classification of Headache Disorders, second edition, criteria.
Additional inclusion criteria were being free of migraine prophylactic medications, oxygen therapy, or other central nervous system medications, and not having any other neurologic or psychiatric disorders. In-hospital video polysomnography was performed.
Compared with baseline, polysomnography showed significant improvements at 1 year in AHI, mean duration of sleep-related breathing disorders, oxygen desaturation index (all P < .001), arousal index (P < .002), slow wave sleep (P = .031), and other measures. CPAP therapy significantly reduced migraine measures and disease burden.
Source: European Neurological Society and Medscape