Abstract

Background: The lipid profile of migraineurs showed atherogenic condition. Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events were found to be frequent and appeared one decade earlier in migraine patients compared with the general population. No comprehensive study is available regarding these aspects in migraineurs in India. Objectives: To compare lipid profile parameters between episodic migraineurs and healthy volunteers.
Materials and Methods: This was a case–control study performed in a sample of migraine cases selected from the Out- patient Department, G.B. Pant Hospital, New Delhi, India, and normal healthy individuals as control group were chosen from the students of medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India. Migraineurs were selected based on the clinical diagnosis by neurologists, each fulfilling the International Headache Society criteria 2004. Subjects aged between 20 and 40 years were enrolled for study irrespective of the aura status. Lipid profile parameters studied were total choles - terol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and triglycerides.
Results: The lipid profile of migraineurs showed abnormal condition. When LDL levels were compared, 24 of 54 cases and 5 of 30 controls showed abnormal levels (P = 0.020), whereas the remaining lipids showed no statistical significance between the two groups. Conclusion: Atherogenic lipid profile of migraineurs in our study coincided with the results of earlier studies. LDL levels were higher in cases when compared with those of controls. The values of total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, and VLDL levels did not differ significantly between the controls and the cases.