Lightning strikes may trigger migraine headaches, according to new research.
The findings, published Jan. 24 in the journal Cephalalgia, are correlational, so they can't show that lightning strikes
close
to a person's house actually cause the headaches. But the changes in
the air around a lightning strike could conceivably trigger electrical
changes in the brains of migraine sufferers and cause headaches, said
Frederick Freitag, the director of the headache center at Baylor
University Medical Center in Dallas, who was not involved in the study.
Mysterious pain
In general, no one knows exactly what causes migraine headaches.
Many scientists believe the brains of migraine sufferers are
fundamentally more sensitive to outside influences and that certain
foods, bright lights or even hunger can trigger the pounding headaches. [Ouch: 10 Odd Causes of Headaches]
.
Many scientists believe the brains of migraine sufferers are
fundamentally more sensitive to outside influences and that certain
foods, bright lights or even hunger can trigger the pounding headaches. [Ouch: 10 Odd Causes of Headaches]
Vincent
Martin, a headache specialist at the University of Cincinnati, noticed
that thunderstorms seemed to spur migraine headaches in some of his
patients.
Intrigued, Martin and his colleagues wondered whether the effect was all in patients' heads or not.
To
find out, he looked at data from a separate study of 90 migraine
sufferers, more than 90 percent of them women, from the St. Louis and
Cincinnati areas who had kept a daily diary of all their potential
triggers for three to six months.
The researchers then collected data on all lightning strikes in
those areas. For each headache sufferer, a same-day lightning strike
occurred within 25 miles of his or her ZIP code about 10 percent to 20
percent of the time, Martin said. [Electric Earth: Stunning Images of Lightning]
in
those areas. For each headache sufferer, a same-day lightning strike
occurred within 25 miles of his or her ZIP code about 10 percent to 20
percent of the time, Martin said. [Electric Earth: Stunning Images of Lightning]
"When
a thunderstorm rolls in, there could be 50,000 lightning strikes within
25 miles [40 kilometers] of your house, you just don't realize it,"
Martin told LiveScience.
Patients
were 30 percent more likely to get a migraine headache and 28 percent
more likely to get a general headache on lightning-strike days, the team
found.
After
controlling for other aspects of the thunderstorms that could cause
headaches – such as temperature, barometric pressure, wind, humidity and
rain – they linked lightning to a 13 percent jump in the likelihood of
an attack.
Though
the study can't prove that lightning actually triggered the migraine
headaches, there are multiple ways in which it theoretically could,
Martin said.
When lightning hits the ground, it creates low-frequency electromagnetic waves that induce a magnetic field,
which could change the electrical signals in the brain, he said.
Lightning also increases the number of positively charged ions in the
air. And the electrical strikes also increase the concentration of the
irritant ozone in the air.
,
which could change the electrical signals in the brain, he said.
Lightning also increases the number of positively charged ions in the
air. And the electrical strikes also increase the concentration of the
irritant ozone in the air.
Freitag
said that though it may sound far-fetched, thunderstorms, via changes
in the air's ionic charge, could trigger migraines.
For
instance, research has shown barometric pressure can change
concentrations in the air, which, in turn, can cause the release of the brain chemical serotonin, Freitag told LiveScience. Serotonin release can cause pain, he said.
, Freitag told LiveScience. Serotonin release can cause pain, he said.
But
migraine frequency isn't constant, so the research team would need to
study a geographic region that's broader, and for more time, to really
pin down the link between headaches and lightning, Freitag said.
