Income and migraines.

Migraine affects people in all socio-economic categories, however it is more likely to occur in poor, according to a report in the latest issue of Neurology. Researchers examined the data from the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention Study. This study surveyed 132,674 females and 124,665 males 12 years of age and older. The participants were divided into three income groups, income below $22,500, between $22,500 and $60,000 and above $60,000. They found that those with lower income were more likely to develop migraine headaches. This is not a new finding and a possible explanation for this phenomenon is that poor tend to have more physical and psychological stress. However, a new and very interesting finding of this study is that the remission rate was the same in poor and well to do. The authors speculate that this may be because once migraines start only biological and genetic factors influence the timing of remission. We do know that in many women menopause leads to cessation of migraine headaches.