Brain damage from migraines? Maybe, if you are a mouse. A recent study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience discovered that a process that simulates migraine in mice leads to brain damage similar to that seen with repeated ministrokes. It is true that patients with migraines with aura (visual disturbance that precedes headaches, which occurs in about 15% of migraine sufferers) have an increased risk of strokes, but this risk is still very low. The vast majority of migraine sufferers stop having migraines in their 40s and 50s and we have no evidence that having migraines for many years causes any permanent brain damage. What happens to mice can never be directly extrapolated to humans. (See my comments on Fox News under NYHC in the News).
