Migraine Improves After Bariatric Surgery

ORLANDO — Almost 90% of obese migraine patients had headache resolution or symptom improvement after bariatric surgery, data from a retrospective cohort study showed.

Improvement occurred an average of six months after surgery, and the degree of migraine improvement correlated with excess weight loss.

Migraine improved substantially more often when obesity preceded the onset of the headache syndrome, reinforcing evidence of a link between obesity and migraine frequency and intensity, as reported here at the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery meeting.

"The novel findings in our study provide persuasive evidence to encourage prospective studies to evaluate the association between obesity and migraine and the effect of surgical weight reduction procedures on migraine," said Yusuf Gunay, MD, of the University of Iowa in Iowa City.

Migraine and obesity frequently occur together, but the existence of a causal relationship remains controversial. Recent reports of an association between obesity and migraine frequency and intensity have added to the controversy, said Gunay.

Obese migraineurs who undergo weight-loss surgery afford an opportunity to examine associations between the two conditions, he added.

The opportunity led…

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