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Teens with Migraine at Greater Rsk of Suicide |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: "Teens with chronic daily headache should be screened for psychiatric disorders so they can get the treatment and help they need," said study author Shuu-Jiun Wang, MD, of the Taipei Veterans General Hospital and National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine in Taipei, Taiwan. For the study, the researchers surveyed 7,900 students age 12 to 14 at five middle schools in Taiwan. Chronic daily headache was defined as headaches 15 or more days per month for two or more hours per days, lasting for more than three months. Nearly 50 percent of those with chronic daily headaches had one or more psychiatric disorder, with 21 percent having major depression and 19 percent having panic disorder. "These numbers are much higher than those reported among the general population of teens of the same ages in Taiwan," Wang said. They were 3.5 times more likely to have a psychiatric disorder than those without migraine. And teens whose migraines came with an aura, or a warning sensation that comes before the headache, were even more likely to have psychiatric disorders. Researchers don't exactly know how underlying mechanisms may link migraine and psychiatric disorders, although they do know that migraine, depression and the tendency toward suicide are all related to problems with the levels of serotonin in the brain. For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit www.aan.com.
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