A clinic-based study was done by the department of neurology at the Korea university school of medicine to examine the differences in characteristics of middle-aged women (aged 40-54 years) according to their menopausal status. In this study, 229 women were divided into three groups: Premenopausal, which is the early years of a woman’s life, often referred to as the time of the first menstrual cycle. Perimenopausal, or menopause transition. This is the stage of a woman’s reproductive life that begins several years before menopause, when the ovaries gradually begin to produce less estrogen. The last group is postmenopausal. This is the stage in a woman’s life after menopause. The prevalence of migraines was similar across the three groups; however, the prevalence of tension-type headaches was higher in the peri- and postmenopausal groups than in the premenopausal group. Dr. Stan Farrell focuses on the treatment of all types of headaches, especially migraines. Dr. Farrell is Board Certified and a member of the American Headache Society and a Diplomate with the American Board of Orofacial Pain, making him one of the best choices for your migraine headache treatment. If you suffer or know someone who suffers from migraines or headaches, schedule an appointment with Dr. Farrell at AZ TMJ today. www.headpaininstitute.com
Oh K, Jung KY, Choi JY, Seo WK, Park KW.
Abstract:
Middle-aged women are frequent visitors in headache clinics. We investigated the differences in headache characteristics of middle-aged women (aged 40-54 years) according to their menopausal status. In total, 229 women were divided into the following three groups: premenopausal (n = 78), perimenopausal (n = 69), and postmenopausal (n = 82). The prevalence of tension-type headaches was higher in the peri- and postmenopausal groups than in the premenopausal group (p < 0.05), whereas the prevalence of migraines was similar across the three groups. The proportion of patients with a short duration of headache history (<6 months) was significantly higher in the perimenopausal group (40.6%) than in the premenopausal (12.8%) or postmenopausal (17.1%) groups (p < 0.01). Analysis of headaches in perimenopausal patients who did not receive exogenous hormone treatment (n = 61) showed that current headaches were reported as new-onset headaches by 47.5% of subjects, as aggravations of prior headaches by 34.4% of subjects, or as unchanged from prior headaches in 18.0% of subjects. This study shows that the prevalence of tension-type headaches is different between menopausal periods, whereas the prevalence of migraines is not changed. Perimenopausal women tended to experience relatively more tension-type headaches and visited the hospital mainly due to new-onset headaches or aggravated headaches.
