Migraine and type 2 diabetes; is there any association?

BACKGROUND: Migraine headache prevalence and triggers in type2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) were investigated in previous studies but the results are contradictory. Therefore, in this study we examined the prevalence of migraine headache in diabetic patients in comparison with non-diabetic persons and its predisposing factors in 2014. METHODS: We enrolled 147 volunteer patients with T2DM and 150 healthy persons referred to the Yazd Diabetes Research Center and the Central Laboratory of Yazd, respectively, in 2014. The data collection instrument was a self-conducted checklist. The checklist contained demographic, anthropometric and clinical characteristics and migraine diagnostic questions according to International Classification of Headache Disorders Second Edition (ICHD-II) criteria. We compared prevalence of migraine between two groups, and also evaluated relationship between above characteristics and migraine prevalence in both groups. RESULTS: The prevalence of migraine in participants of diabetic and non-diabetic was 27.9 and 26 %, respectively (p-value = .406). The prevalence of migraine headache among in diabetic persons was significantly correlated with family history of migraine, diabetes duration and hypoglycemia attacks. Also, the migraine prevalence was significant more prevalent in T2DM patients with duration 6–10 years (p-value = 0.031). The percentage of HbA1C, type of anti-diabetic medication, BMI value and age in diabetic patients did not show any significant association with migraine. CONCLUSION: Although we observed no significant differences in prevalence of migraine between patients with T2DM and non-diabetic age and sex adjusted persons But, the occurrence of hypoglycemia attacks and T2DM duration were related to migraine prevalence. Decreasing hypoglycemia among long-time T2DM patients probably can decline migraine headache in this group of patients.