MINNEAPOLIS -The MINNEAPOLIS HTML0 –If you feel as if your headaches are as if they are clockwork and arrive at exactly the same time of the day, then it may be something amiss within the body’s internal clock. A new study suggests that disturbances in a person’s circadian rhythms can lead with headache clusters. headaches as well as migraines.
“The results suggest that both headache conditions are highly circadian at various levels, particularly cluster headaches,” is study’s lead the study’s author Mark Joseph Burish, MD PhD, a researcher within the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston and an active part of the American Academy of Neurology, in a release to the media. “This highlights the importance of the hypothalamus, which is the part within the brain, which is home to the central biological clock, and its function in migraine and cluster headache. It also raises questions of the genetic causes of triggers, such as changes in sleep that trigger migraine, and may be signals to the body’s circadian rhythm.”
Researchers discovered that 71 percent of people suffering from cluster headaches suffered from them simultaneously throughout the day. The headaches usually manifested between late in the night and in the early morning. The cluster headaches were also more common during the autumn and spring. In analyzing the genes of individuals and genes, cluster headaches showed a link to both circadian gene expression. Additionally, five out of the nine circadian genes increased the chance of having cluster headaches.
Your hormones could also trigger headaches
The authors of the study also looked at how hormones affect headaches as well as migraines. Cortisol and Melatonin are two of the hormones whose levels are affected by the rhythms of the circadian cycle. The findings showed that those suffering from cluster headaches typically had elevated cortisol levels, and decreased levels of melatonin in comparison to those who didn’t often experience these types of headaches.
Half of those suffering from frequent migraines (50 percent) had an attack pattern that were triggered by a specific moment in the day. A majority of sufferers experienced migraines during the daytime that lasted from late in the morning to early evening. The majority of migraines occurred at night. Circadian-related migraines also have a connection to 2 circadian genes. The team also discovered 110 of the 168 genes linked to migraines which had to do with the body’s biological clock. Analyzing urine samples revealed that people suffering from migraines had lower levels of melatonin as compared to people who didn’t suffer from migraine. Also, there were drops in melatonin levels after an attack of migraine.
“These findings raise the possibility of using treatments that are based on circadian cycles to treat headache-related conditions,” Burish explains. “This could encompass treatments that are based on the rhythm of the circadian cycle – for example, taking medication at specific time of the day, and treatments that trigger circadian changes as certain medications cause.”
One of the limitations of the study was that the researchers didn’t have any information about other factors that can affect the internal clocks of people. For example, certain medications or bipolar disorder may alter the circadian rhythms of a person. Furthermore, working shifts at night and sleeping in the daytime can change a person’s biological rhythm, which could cause sleep issues.
The study was reported in the scientific journal Neurology..
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