We all love good news, and we’d all love it if it turned out that there were positive aspects to having Migraine disease.
Back in November, the media was buzzing, reporting that having Migraines decreases a woman’s risk of breast cancer by 30%.
Yesterday, the National Headache Foundation blogged “Migraineurs have a lower incidence of breast cancer. Their blog entry began:
A silver lining for women who suffer from migraine has been discovered—researchers have determined that female migraineurs have a significantly lower chance of developing breast cancer than women who do not have migraines.
Overall, women with a history of migraine showed a 30% decrease in the incidence of the most common types of breast cancer.
You may ask what’s wrong with what they wrote. If you’ve been reading my blog very long, you know I’m going to tell you.
What’s wrong is that the study had some serious shortcomings. For one thing, patients in the study weren’t medically screened for Migraines. It all hinged upon the patients telling the researchers that they had Migraines. Many Migraineurs are undiagnosed, and some in that study may not have told the researchers they have Migraines. And, how many of us have had people tell us they have Migraines too just because they have a bad headache? So, some may have said they have Migraines when the indeed do not.
I don’t want to prolong this, so I’m going to give you two quotes from Migraine experts to further demonstrate my point about this study:
From Dr. Stephen Silberstein, director of the Jefferson Headache Center:
This study doesn’t prove anything. It’s not that I don’t believe the results, it’s that the results are not believable.
From Dr. Ellen Drexler of Maimonides Medical center:
Migraine brains are more sensitive to many exogenous and endogenous factors, of which falling estrogen levels are an important one for many female Migraineurs,…. However, female Migraineurs are not known to have consistently lower levels of estrogen than are non-Migraineurs… genetic factors may also be playing a role, as well as exogenous factors such as medication use, smoking and alcohol use, which may vary between Migraineurs and non-Migraineurs…
So why did the NHF’s blog entry state that there’s a silver lining, that women with a history of Migraine showed a 30% decrease in the incidence of Migraine — with no qualifiers on the statements?
I don’t know why, but it’s disappointing. We should be able to expect more from such a large, prominent organization. We should be able to expect them to give us perspective on such studies, not just regurgitate the statistics.
Best,
Arabella♥
sources of information:
- “Migraineurs have a lower incidence of breast cancer.” National Headache Foundation Blog. January 20, 2009.
- “Migraines Decrease Risk of Breast Cancer? Maybe Not.” Teri Robert. November 24, 2008.
This was based on a study report in a journal, right? Makes you wonder if they even read the journal article.
“Disappointing” sums it up well. Thanks!
Jon
When I read the NHF’s blog entry, I couldn’t help but think it was written only from reading Reuters news blurbs…
Be wel,
MJ
MJ,
That was my impression too. So my question would be – Why did they even bother? You’d think they’d be the best, but they’re not.
Arabella
Arabella,
It is very disappointing when a national organization that is SUPPOSEDLY exists to promote truth about Migraine just reiterates garbage promoted by the mainstream media. As I stated in my post (http://amigraineur.wordpress.com/2008/12/04/migraineurs-at-lower-risk-for-breast-cancer/) about this study, this is not a “silver lining” even if it were true. Based on this study, there is nothing a woman at high risk for hormone sensitive breast cancer or her healthcare provider can do differently to reduce her risk. I still think the NIH is behind this showing Migraineurs that they do fund “research” on Migraine disease. This doesn’t count in my book.
Arabelle,
this makes me sad…I want to know WHO wrote this!!!!! Yes I know it is on their site but we need to contact them to remind them it is not correct. I am writting an email to them. This is really what is wrong.
I am so happy we have your site!
Liz
Liz,
It makes me sad too. We SO need these big organizations, but we need them to get it right. Let us know what you find out?
Thanks!
Arabella
Oh, wow, wow, wow! What a wonderful blog.
Thank you so much for blogging truthfully and honestly. It can’t be easy to do this without making some people mad, but it’s so wonderful that you’re doing this.
Back to the point of this topic, it’s an abomination that the NHF so blithely writes about migraine reducing breast cancer without taking the time and effort to point out the problems with the research.
Thank you also for including a link Teri Robert’s article. It seemed quite balanced and reasonable, especially when compared to the NHF’s writing.
You’re right. Disappointing is a good way to put it.
Thank you again,
Margaret
Hi Arabella – Thanks for pointing this out. What do organizations exist for if they are not going to be responsible and probing about the information they gather? I have had some questions in the past about some rather over-broad conclusions they have drawn from limited data – I will have to read what they send me more carefully in future!
Best, Megan
Hi, cool site, good writing
Nice template. Where can i download it?
Thanks! It’s a standard WordPress template. The name of it is at the bottom of the page.
Arabella
Hi nice blog. I wonder why migraine does have relation with breast cancer. Seem like they still don’t have strong evidence and findings.
It’s not clear that Migraine does have a relation with breast cancer. The findings of that study were seriously flawed. Migraine is a neurological disease. Although hormones are implicated in breast cancer, and hormonal fluctuations can be a Migraine trigger, that doesn’t mean there’s necessarily any link between a form of cancer and a neurological disease.
Best,
Arabella
I really like your blog! You have wrote a really wonderful article on migraine. Thanks they are a great help!
Hello everyone! Yes, I’ve read about this thing in a blog just a while ago that states “women who have history of migraines have lower risks of breasts cancer”. I don’t know how they connect migraines from cancer, but an expert says that. I’m not sure if its true.
Jasmine,
Did you go to the second link at the bottom of this blog post, “Migraines Decrease Risk of Breast Cancer? Maybe Not” at http://www.healthcentral.com/migraine/news-276410-5.html? If not, take a look. The research is shaky at best.
Abi
Hey, I really enjoy your blog. I have a blog too in a totally unrelated field (Online Stock Trading) but I like to check in here on a regular basis, just to see what’s going on and it’s always interesting to say the least. It’s always entertaining what people have to say.
Thank you! You often write very interesting articles. You improved my mood.