Multiple Sclerosis and Migraine

Migraine, a common comorbidity in multiple sclerosis (MS) is not part of the MS prodrome, new research suggested.

Investigators found that patients with MS were more likely than controls to develop migraine shortly before disease diagnosis, suggesting the headache type is not a forerunner of MS.

Worldwide up to 43% of patients with MS report migraine.

This study showed that migraine was also more likely to occur at the same time or 1 year prior to MS symptoms or the index date in cases vs controls (4.3% vs 1.3%; aOR, 3.54; P = .002).

These findings suggest that migraine can be triggered by MS rather than part of the constellation of nonspecific symptoms that constitute the 3- to 5-year-long MS prodrome.