Struggling with migraines? Your sleeping pattern could be to blame

Amidst long working hours and hectic office schedules, headaches and migraines have become quite common among people of all groups. Such lifestyle issues are causing a negative impact on the health of many.

A latest study, published in the journal Neurology, has shed light on the same and linked sleep disturbance as a trigger for migraines. The research team from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in US conducted a prospective cohort study, wherein it was found that patients who suffer from migraines report sleep disturbance as a trigger for their headaches.

For the study, the researchers analysed the assessments and actigraphy measurements of 98 adults with episodic migraines. In an electronic diary, the participants of the study recorded details about their sleep, headaches and health habits for six weeks twice a day.

To objectively capture their sleep patterns, the participants were asked to wear a wrist actigraph to bed. Other migraine triggers like daily caffeine intake, alcohol intake, physical activity, stress and more were adjusted by the researchers.

As per the findings of the study, the participants reported 870 headaches. Other than this, they observed that sleep fragmentation–time spent in bed, but not asleep — was linked to migraine onset not on the next day but rather the day after that.

Also Read

7 best diabetic socks to protect your feet Read Now

“Sleep is multi-dimensional, and when we look at certain aspects such as sleep, we found that low sleep efficiency, which is the amount of time you’re awake in bed when you’re trying to sleep, was associated with migraines not on the day immediately following, but on the day after that,” said study researcher Suzanne Bertisch from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in US.

With inputs from IANS