Sex Differences in PTSD-migraine Association

A recent study suggests that men with migraines are at greater odds of developing post traumatic stress disorder than females who experience migraine headaches.

According to lead author B. Lee Peterlin, this finding suggests that sex hormones play an important role in the PTSD-migraine association.

The age of the traumatic life event resulting in PTSD may also be an important factor for the sex differences in the PTSD-migraine association, he said.

A second related article by Todd Smitherman, from the University of Mississippi and Thomas Ward of the Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire also reviewed sex and gender differences in those with headache.

They suggest that women's pain experiences, multiple role responsibilities, and coping strategies likely influence the sex and gender differences in pain perception and response. "Gender-based differences are not strictly biological and important psychosocial issues are involved with headache pain as well," they added.

The study has been published in Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain.

Source: ANI