New evidence published in the prominent journal Heachache supports a vascular cause for migraine without aura. Scientists still do not fully understand the mechanism behind migraine headaches, but do suggest that migraine with aura and migraines without aura may have different underlying causes.
Migraines without aura have long been associated with a vascular cause, thought to result from constriction of blood vessels in the scalp and brain. The constriction of blood vessels causes decreased blood flow and oxygen delivery, thereby producing the sensation of pain.
Researchers in Australia examined the retinal vessels of individuals who suffer from the two different types of migraine headaches and those who are healthy to determine if any relationship exists. They found that those people who suffer from migraine headaches without aura also have narrowed vessels in the area of the retina at the back of the eye. While healthy, non-migraine sufferers and migraine with aura sufferers have normal diameter of retinal vessels.
The authors conclude that narrowed retinal vessels and migraine without aura may be related by a common vasoconstrictive disorder. More research is needed to determine the nature of the relationship, but the results strongly support a causative theory for migraine headaches as primarily vascular in origin.
Posted by Dr. Christina Gutierrez on July 14, 2006 01:51 AM
