If you always have a migraine attack when it’s raining, it could be more than coincidence, suggests recent research.
Researchers from the National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine in Taipei, Taiwan, discovered that sudden temperature changes in the atmosphere could be the underlying trigger of up to a fifth of migraines.
The study enlisted the help of 60 migraine sufferers and asked each person to keep a diary of possible triggers during a one-year period.
The results from the study concluded that weather changes do play a part in triggering migraine attacks (mostly mild, rather than moderate or severe headaches), with participants citing colder temperatures as the biggest catalyst.
Researchers discovered that in the winter 16.5% of mild migraines were triggered by the cold weather, compared to 9.5% in the warmer months of summer.
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"The study provides pioneering evidence that headaches are associated more with temperature among those with subjective temperature sensitivity than those without," lead author Dr Shuu-Jiun Wang said in a statement, reports Medical Xpress.
"If patients report temperature sensitivity, physicians should pay more attention and may adjust preventive agents in certain seasons for these patients," he added.
These study results were presented to the Annual Scientific Sessions of the American Headache Society.
Another study included in the presentation included research by the Headache Center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which discovered that red wine could be also be a leading migraine trigger.
The small study looked at 33 adults who considered themselves regular red wine drinkers and had suffered from migraines previously.
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Participants were asked to drink half a bottle of Malbec, Tannat, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, four days apart.
Although most participants reported a migraine attack (at least once) within 12 hours of drinking wine, some wines were more to blame than others - specifically Tannat and Malbec, which contain higher levels of flavonoids, which give red wine its colour.
A migraine is a complex condition with a wide variety of symptoms other than a painful headache, like disturbed vision, sensitivity to light, sounds and smells and vomiting. Symptoms vary from person to person and attacks can last between four to 72 hours.
It's estimated that one in seven people in the UK suffer from migraines.
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