MIGRAINE: Is alcohol a trigger?

 Alcoholic beverages are often considered migraine triggers, but what is it really? This study from the University of Leiden (Netherlands), presented in the European Journal of Neurology indeed suggests that migraine triggered by alcohol is a "reality", it occurs quickly after the consumption of alcoholic beverages, and according to a mechanism different from that commonly called "hangover". Excess alcohol, and in particular wine, is therefore a possible trigger for an attack in migraine sufferers.

The main author, Dr. Gisela Terwindt and her team conducted this study with 2,197 patients suffering from migraines.

- 35.6% of participants reported excessive alcohol as a trigger for a migraine attack;

- more than 25% of participants with migraine who quit alcohol, or those who had never consumed alcohol, did so because of these presumed trigger effects;

- wine, in particular red wine, is designated by 77.8% of participants as the main trigger among alcoholic beverages of migraine attacks;

- however, “in reality” red wine consistently caused a seizure “only” in 8.8% of participants;

- the onset of the migraine attack is rather rapid after excessive alcohol: sometimes less than 3 hours in a third of patients and up to 10 hours later, regardless of the type of alcoholic beverage consumed, in nearly 90 % patients.