Migraine headaches

Migraines are a battle of the sexes that women might prefer not winning. Each year, roughly three times more women than men—up to 18% of all women—suffer from the debilitating headaches, as tallied by epidemiological surveys in Europe and the United States. A new brain imaging study may explain the divide: The brains of women with migraines appear to be built differently than those of their male counterparts.

Women who suffer from migraines or who have had them in the past are at an increased risk for developing depression, according to new research.

The study, conducted by Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, found that women with any history of migraine were about 40 percent more likely to develop depression than women without a history of migraine. The results were the same regardless of whether the women had a migraine with aura.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A 13-year-old patient once came to Dr. Robert Cowan with an unusual request: She wanted to go to an amusement park and she needed him to talk her mother into it.

The mother assumed Cowan, a neurologist treating the girl for severe migraines, would take her side. Surely a day in the sun, riding roller coasters and sprinting around the park, would trigger a terrible headache.

"And I said of course she should go," Cowan said recently with a laugh. "And she went, and she got a headache, and she said it was totally worth it."

Cowan, director of Stanford University's new headache clinic, could relate to the girl. He has suffered migraines his whole life. Just two years ago, he risked a major headache to see an Eric Clapton concert. He understands all too well the choices "migraineurs" -- the word migraine sufferers often use to describe themselves -- have to make to live as normal and productive lives as possible.