The Association of Menstrual Migraine with Iron Deficiency and Its Induced Anemia

Background: Menstrual Migraine (MM) is a subgroup of migraine headachethat affect the quality of life of patients in menstrual age. Iron DeficiencyAnemia (IDA) is the most common cause of anemia, especially in women ofreproductive age.Objectives: To determine the association of iron deficiency anemia withmenstrual migraine.Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was conducted onwomen with migraine visiting neurology clinics affiliated to Isfahan Universityof Medical Sciences in late 2015 and early 2016. The demographic data andcharacteristics of migraine headache were registered in a designedquestionnaire. The patients underwent laboratory tests for iron deficiency andanemia. Data were analyzed in SPSS-20 using Chi-square test and independentt-test. Significance level was considered at p<0.05.Results: Of the 93 migraine patients, 47.3% had Pure MM (31.9% withpremenstrual migraine and 15.4% with true menstrual migraine), 40.6% hadMenstrual-Related Migraines, and 12.1% had non-menstrual migraines. Thefrequency of iron deficiency anemia was 51.1%, 40.5% and36.4% in PMM,MRM and non-menstrual migraines (p=0.18). Total frequency of irondeficiency anemia in PMM and MRM groups was 46.2%, which was notsignificantly different from non-menstrual migraine group (p=0.82). Irondeficiency anemia was significantly higher in migraine patients with auracompared to those without aura (53% vs. 43.2%) (p=0.04).Conclusion: Although iron deficiency anemia was more prevalent amongpatients with menstrual migraine, but it is not associated menstrual migraine.

Keywords:

Migraine , Menstrual Migraine , Anemia , Iron Deficiency