First genetic link found to common migraine

Topdawg13 · Aug 29, 2010

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Researchers who looked at genetic data from 50,000 people from Finland, Germany and The Netherlands found that patients with a certain DNA variant affecting regulation of a particular brain chemical have a greater risk of developing migraines.

The results suggest that a buildup of that chemical, called glutamate, may play a role in the mechanism of migraines.

"This is the first time we have been able to peer into the genomes of many thousands of people and find genetic clues to understand common migraine," said Aarno Palotie, chair of the international headache genetics consortium at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Britain, which led the study.

Migraine affects around one in six women and one in 12 men, and has been estimated to be the most expensive brain disorder to society in the European Union and the United States.

Not only is migraine painful, it also can be disabling and is often a life-long condition. The World Health Organization ranks it 19th among all causes of "years lived with disability," and family life, social life and work capacity are negatively affected in almost all migraine sufferers.

Global sales of drugs to treat migraine were around $2.6 billion in 2009, according to analysts at Deutsche Bank.
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