More than one billion people get at least one migraine attack per year, according to reports.
Previous research has shown that migraine can potentially increase a person’s risk for various illnesses. They include stroke, heart illness, epilepsy, sleeping problems, and anxiety and sadness.
Moreover, migraine has also been linked to some gastrointestinal diseases, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Researchers from Seoul National University College of Medicine in South Korea believe there may be a link between migraine and an increased risk of irritable bowel disease (IBD). In addition to Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Not involved in the study, Dr. Brooks D. Cash, professor and chief of the division of gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition at UTHealth Houston in Texas stated that the field of gastroenterology recognises the link between migraine and many chronic gastrointestinal syndromes and diseases.
Dr. Cash said,
The data in this report supports previous reports of an association between migraine headaches and IBD
Not involved in the study, a board-certified gastroenterologist, Dr Rudolph Bedford at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, said that the findings were not unexpected.
Dr Bedford said,
[With] inflammatory bowel disease, we do see some extra-intestinal manifestations, including things involving the eye or ocular findings, which may be neurogenic in nature, so it wasn’t surprising.
This is not the first study to investigate a link between migraines and IBD.
A March 2021 survey of people in the US discovered that adults with IBD had a higher prevalence of migraines and severe headaches in comparision to those without.
In addition, according to research published in March 2023, there is an increased prevalence of IBD among those who have migraine with or without aura.
For the current study, researchers examined data from more than 10 million South Korean inhabitants obtained through the country’s national healthcare system. Approximately 3% of the study population had IBD.
Scientists discovered that the incidence of IBD was considerably higher in persons who experienced migraines than those who did not.