Migraine Risk Linked to Gene

A genetic variant has been linked to higher risk for chronic migraines, according to a new study of European patients.

Chronic migraines afflict more than 300 million people worldwide, including roughly 1 in 6 women and 1 in 12 men. Severe head pain is often accompanied by nausea and extreme sensitivity to light and sound, according to the Mayo Clinic.

(Related: "'Space Headache' a New Type of Astronaut Affliction?")

To pinpoint any genetic anomalies linked with the disorder, an international team of researchers compared the genomes of more than 2,700 migraine sufferers from Finland, Germany, and the Netherlands with the genomes of more than 10,000 people without the condition.

The research revealed that 25 percent of people with migraines have a genetic variant that appears to reduce activity in a neighboring gene. This

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