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Headache and depression – a common combination, especially among women
Women who suffer from chronic headache run an above average risk of also suffering severe depression. This is the finding of an American study published in the journal Neurology.
Dr Gretchen Tietjen of the University of Toledo monitored 1,032 American women who suffer from migraine. Half of them were subject to “episodic” headache, ie fewer than 15 headaches per month. The rest suffered “severe” headache, with more than 15 episodes each month.
The results suggest that “severe” headache increases fourfold the risk of sinking into a major depression. And, according to Dr Tietjen, that’s not all. “We also found that women suffering from strong headaches were three times more likely to have problems sleeping, suffer from chronic fatigue, nausea and stomach pain”. And also back pain and pain in the arms and joints.
Whether all these physical problems are the consequence, or on the contrary, the triggers of a depressive episode remains to be seen. The authors of the study do not offer an answer to this question. “Studies are currently under way to discover the order in which the symptoms are manifested. We want to establish whether the source of all these problems might not be a serotonin dysfunction in the central nervous system”.
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