Women get far more migraines than men – a neurologist explains why, and what brings relief
Women get far more migraines than men – a neurologist explains why, and what brings relief
For women ages 18 to 49, migraines are the leading cause of disability throughout the world.
A migraine is far more than just a headache – it’s a debilitating disorder of the nervous system.
People who have migraines experience severe throbbing or pulsating pain, typically on one side of the head. The pain is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting and extreme sensitivity to light or sound. An attack may last for hours or days, and to ease the suffering, some people spend time isolated in dark, quiet rooms.
About 800 million people worldwide get migraine headaches; in the U.S. alone, about 39 million, or approximately 12% of the population, have them regularly.
And most of these people are women. More than three times as many women as compared to men get migraines. For women ages 18 to 49, migraine is the leading cause of disability throughout the world. (...)
The article is well worth a read. I didn't want to copy & paste the whole article due to its length, but it goes into different reasons why women tend to have more migraines than men (e.g. estrogen/progesteron levels) and in which cases it might be a better strategy to avoid medication (e.g. birth control) with estrogen.