There’s a big debate right now in the migraine community around the underlying cause of the disease. The question is whether it is vascular, and has something to do with our vessels, or whether it has to do with our neurons not functioning correctly or misfiring.
There’s not a lot of genetic evidence to support either hypothesis. This study was aimed at trying to, firstly, find genetic determinants of migraine and then, to use those discoveries to understand more about the underlying mechanisms of migraine.
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The end result is that we identified 45 association signals that encompass 38 different regions of the genome. About 28 of these were novel, meaning they were not previously known from other studies, so this is quite a significant finding in the genome-wide association world.
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The heritability for migraine is estimated to be about 40%…That means that approximately 60% of migraine is probably non genetic and very well could have something to do with lifestyle or environment.
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[T]hese kinds of studies can lead to a deeper understanding of how migraine or other diseases are caused.The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Are migraines genetic? An interview with Nick Furlotte
