Changes in estrogen can lead to migraines and seizures

The study, conducted by the Institute of Psychiatric Research in New York states that migraines and seizures can occur in women when estrogen levels change during the normal ovarian cycle.
“At times of life when estrogen levels change dramatically, such as puberty, post-partum, or menopause, there are also dramatic changes in the nervous system,” the study found.

Dr. Elliot Shevel, a South African migraine surgery pioneer and the medical director of The Headache Clinic says factors derived from the both the brain and the system of arteries and veins are shown in this new research to link migraine pain to fluctuating hormone levels. “Estrogen works directly on the structures of the brain. The study has been able to show precisely the link between these changing estrogen levels and the central nervous system.”

Other links to migraines in women
Breast cancer: New data shows that women who suffer from migraines have a lower risk of breast cancer. The study was performed in Washington at the Hutchinson Center. The multicenter study consisted of 4568 breast cancer cases and 4678 controls. “One of the explanations for the inverse relationship between migraine and breast cancer is that migraine sufferers are less likely to use exogenous hormones such as oral contraceptives and other substances such as alcohol. Oral contraceptives are a trigger for migraines and have long been known to have carcinogenic properties,” says Shevel.

Obesity: The American Headache Society’s peer reviewed medical journal Headache has published a research paper highlighting the link between obesity and migraine. The results confirmed that 25.2 % of the obese or severely obese women were diagnosed with migraine in comparison to only 17.1 % of the women with a normal body mass index. In summary obese or severely obese women have 47.3 percent higher chance of suffering from migraines.