Something Good About Headaches?

Migraine headaches are definitely troublesome, even debilitating at times. Recent research in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention suggests that in some women, migraine headaches may actually be beneficial. Researchers looked at two studies involving over 3,000 women who developed breast cancer and discovered that women with a history of migraine headaches were 30% less likely to develop hormonally-receptive breast cancers. Greater exposure to estrogen increases one's risk of developing breast cancer, and lower levels of estrogen often lead to more migraine headaches. Therefore, women with migraines have lower levels of estrogen and lower risk of breast cancer.

Nothing has been proven for sure, but researchers are calling for more investigation. One limitation of this research is that the women involved in the two breast cancer studies were all past menopause. It is unclear how migraines and premenopausal breast cancer may be related, but for now it's interesting to note that a troublesome condition may not be all bad.

Read more about migraines and women.

You can also read more about estrogen.