How do sex hormones influence migraine?

On the occasion of the Migraine Awareness Week 2019, we’ve invited Dr. Bianca Raffaelli Junior Fellow of the European Federation School of Advanced Studies (EHF-SAS) to tell us about the influence of sex hormones on migraine and her current research project.

Bianca Raffaelli 2 Sep 2019

Of the one billion people worldwide that suffer from migraines, the vast majority of them are women. Roughly one in four women will experience migraine in their lives, compared to one in 16 men, making migraine one of the leading serious health problems affecting women.

Migraine affects women three times more often than men. This sex gap is most pronounced in the age group between 35 and 45 years, where migraine has a prevalence of 25-30% in females but only 8% in males. This results in approximately 500 million women worldwide who are severely impaired in their most productive years because they suffer from migraine. The huge associated health and social burden makes this topic highly relevant and has motivated me to do research in this field.