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Childhood Abuse and Migraine: Epidemiology, Sex Differences, and Potential Mechanisms
Author(s) -
Tietjen Gretchen E.,
Peterlin B. Lee
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
headache: the journal of head and face pain
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.14
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1526-4610
pISSN - 0017-8748
DOI - 10.1111/j.1526-4610.2011.01906.x
Subject(s) - migraine , epidemiology , childhood abuse , population , psychiatry , medicine , psychology , clinical psychology , child abuse , poison control , injury prevention , pathology , medical emergency , environmental health
( Headache 2011;51:869‐879) Migraine and maltreatment are both common conditions that are more prevalent in women. Epidemiological evidence supports an association between childhood abuse and headache, as well as pain in general, although some controversy exists based on methodological concerns of studying the influence of remote, traumatic, stigmatizing events in an often depressed population. There is a growing scientific body of knowledge regarding the neurobiological effects of abuse on brain function and structure that suggest a possible role of early life stress in the pathogenesis of migraine, and a differential impact based on sex. Advances in our understanding of the basic mechanisms by which an adverse environment interacts with and changes the genome, may suggest new treatment strategies.