People suffering from even mild headaches may be more prone to suicide, a study warns.
Researchers discovered that those in constant pain may be twice as likely to attempt to take their lives than their peers.
They are also about 40 percent more likely to go through with it.
While extreme migraines and cluster headaches have been linked to suicide before, the new research found that those suffering from even milder types, such as tension headaches, are at risk.
Authors said that their JAMA Neurology study had ‘clear clinical implications’ in the research.
‘Screening and early identification of depressive symptoms and suicidality in patients with headache disorders may help to identify those at elevated suicide risk,’ they wrote.
The doctors also noted that depression and other mental health problems can worsen headaches by sapping mood-booting hormones – potentially driving people to suicide.
Neurologists have found that headaches raise the risk of suicide (stock)
The American Migraine Foundation estimates that at least 39 million Americans suffer from regular headaches or migraines – with women complaining more than twice as high as among men.
Doctors from Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University compared nearly 120,000 people in Denmark aged 15 and older with a headache diagnosis to 600,000 people without one.
The team followed up with the participants after 15 years, between 1995 and 2020.
Among people suffering with any kind of headache, 0.78 percent had attempted suicide compared with 0.33 percent in the non-headache group – a 136 percent increased risk.
Some 0.21 percent have died by suicide after 15 years, compared with 0.15 percent in the non-headache group, a difference of 40 percent.
The increased risk of suicide was seen in all headache types but the strongest link was shown for trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TACs) and post-traumatic headache.
TACs are defined as ‘group of rare conditions that cause severe headaches and other uncomfortable symptoms’, according to Henry Ford Health.
Doctors from Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania as well as Stanford University compared nearly 120,000 people in Denmark aged 15 and older with a headache diagnosis to 600,000 people without one
Among people suffering with any kind of headache, 0.78 percent had attempted suicide compared with 0.33 percent in the non-headache group
The most common symptoms are headaches on one side and runny eyes and nose. Others include high blood pressure. nasal congestion and swollen eyelids.
Doctors involved in the study noted that early diagnosis and effective treatment of headache could potentially help to reduce the risk of attempted and completed suicide.
They also suggested that behavioral health evaluation and treatment may be of help in reducing the risks of suicide.
This comes nearly a year after scientists discovered a drug that was already on the market for $35 which could help the millions of Americans currently suffering with migraine to stop the attack before it begins.
Ubrogepant – sold under brand name Ubrelvy – helped 65 percent of participants blunt or stop the debilitating pain associated with migraines, so that they could go about their day as usual.
Some 0.21 percent have died suicide after 15 years, compared with 0.15 percent in the non-headache group, a 29 percent difference
Earlier studies have shown the drug can help people already sickened by an attack, but this study was the first to conclude the drug can work before the pain begins.
It’s taken as a 50 or 100 milligram pill, and takes around an hour and a half to set in.
The study authors say this could be a game changer for roughly 39 million Americans who suffer with migraines.
When a migraine sets in, most people can’t move, look at light, or hear loud sounds without intense pain, nausea or vomiting.
The new drug works by mimicking a molecule in the brain that triggers migraine pain. When in the body, these molecules sit on pain receptors and stop them from being activated by bodily signals that trigger migraine.
