Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Current Pain and Headache Reports
Published in: Current Pain and Headache Reports 6/2010

01-12-2010

Tension-type Headache and Migraine in Multiple Sclerosis

Authors: Ilya Kister, Ana B. Caminero, Joseph Herbert, Richard B. Lipton

Published in: Current Pain and Headache Reports | Issue 6/2010

Login to get access

Abstract

We review the evidence for a link between multiple sclerosis (MS) and two of the most common primary headache disorders: tension-type headache and migraine. We argue that the association between migraine and MS is biologically plausible and is confirmed by most studies. We discuss possible explanations for the association. First, we consider the possibility that the association is spurious. Next, we consider unidirectional causal models in which one of the conditions increases the risk of the other. A bidirectional model would suggest that each disease predisposes to the other. Alternatively, genetic or environmental risk factors shared by each condition may account for the association between them. We also address the question of whether coexisting migraine or tension-type headache in a patient with MS affects the symptom profile, clinical course, and radiographic characteristics of MS.
Literature
1.
Scher AI, Stewart WF, Lipton RB: The comorbidity of headache with other pain syndromes. Headache 2006, 46:1416–1423.CrossRefPubMed
2.
Breslau N, Lipton RB, Stewart WF, et al.: Comorbidity of migraine and depression: investigating potential etiology and prognosis. Neurology 2003, 60:1308–1312.PubMed
3.
Paparrigopoulos T, Ferentinos P, Kouzoupis A, et al.: The neuropsychiatry of multiple sclerosis: focus on disorders of mood, affect and behavior. Int Rev Psychiatry 2010, 22:14–21.CrossRefPubMed
4.
• O’Connor AB, Schwid SR, Herrmann DN, et al.: Pain associated with multiple sclerosis: Systematic review and proposed classification. Pain 2008, 137:96–111. This otherwise outstanding review of pain syndromes in MS does not do justice to the subject of headache.CrossRefPubMed
5.
Alstadhaug K, Breivik K, Rusic Z: Recurrent headache due to MS plaque. Headache 2008, 48:453–454.CrossRefPubMed
6.
Davey R, Al-Din A: Secondary trigeminal autonomic cephalgia associated with multiple sclerosis. Cephalalgia 2004, 24:605–607.CrossRefPubMed
7.
Haas DC, Kent PF, Friedman DI: Headache caused by a single lesion of multiple sclerosis in the periaqueductal gray area. Headache 1993, 33:452–455.CrossRefPubMed
8.
9.
Schwartz BS, Stewart WK, Simon D, Lipton RB: Epidemiology of tension-type headache. JAMA 1998, 279:381–383.CrossRefPubMed
10.
D’Amico D, La Mantia L, Rigamonti A, et al.: Prevalence of primary headaches in people with multiple sclerosis. Cephalalgia 2004, 24:980–984.CrossRefPubMed
11.
• Nicoletti A, Patti F, Lo Fermo S, et al.: Headache and multiple sclerosis: a population-based case–control study in Catania, Sicily. Cephalalgia 2008, 28:1163–1169. This population-based study of headache in MS surveyed more than two thirds of all known multiple sclerosis cases in Sicily. It provides support for the idea that the association between headache and multiple sclerosis extends to MS patients at large, and not only to those who attend specialized clinics. CrossRefPubMed
12.
• Putzki N, Pfriem A, Limmroth V, et al.: Prevalence of migraine, tension-type headache and trigeminal neuralgia in multiple sclerosis. Eur J Neurol 2009, 16:262–267. This large prospective study of MS outpatients and historical control patients showed higher prevalence of migraine in the general population compared to patients with MS, though the prevalence of primary headaches in healthy controls was much higher than expected. CrossRefPubMed
13.
Monaldini C, Capone JG, Caniatti ML, et al.: Headache in Multiple Sclerosis. Clinical and Therapeutical Correlations [poster P04.190]. Presented at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting. Toronto, Canada; April 10–17, 2010.
14.
• Boneschi FM, Colombo B, Annovazzi P, et al.: Lifetime and actual prevalence of pain and headache in multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler 2008, 14:514–521. This cross-sectional study shows the actual and lifetime prevalence of pain (neuropathic or somatic) and headache in patients with MS and sought to identify predictive demographic and disease-related factors for an increased risk of specific types of pain and headache. CrossRefPubMed
15.
Rolak LA, Brown S: Headaches and multiple sclerosis: a clinical study and review of the literature. J Neurol 1990, 237:300–302.CrossRefPubMed
16.
Pöllmann W, Erasmus LP, Feneberg W, et al.: Interferon beta but not glatiramer acetate therapy aggravates headaches in MS. Neurology 2002, 59:636–639.PubMed
17.
Villani V, Prosperini L, Ciuffoli A, et al.: Primary headache and multiple sclerosis: preliminary results of a prospective study. Neurol Sci 2008, 29(Suppl 1):S146–S148.CrossRefPubMed
18.
• Kister I, Caminero AB, Monteith TS, et al.: Migraine is comorbid with multiple sclerosis and associated with a more symptomatic MS course. J Headache Pain 13 July 2010 (Epub ahead of print). This clinic-based study by the authors of this review is the only study to compare clinical and radiographic features of patients with MS and migraine v. headache-free patients with MS.
19.
Merikangas KR, Angst J, Isler H: Migraine and psychopathology. Results of the Zurich cohort study of young adults. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1990, 47:849–853.PubMed
20.
Swartz KL, Pratt LA, Armenian HK, et al.: Mental disorders and the incidence of migraine headaches in a community sample: results from the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment area follow-up study. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2000, 57:945–950.CrossRefPubMed
21.
Mitsonis CI, Potagas C, Zervas I, Sfagos K: The effects of stressful life events on the course of multiple sclerosis: a review. Int J Neurosci 2009, 119:315–335.CrossRefPubMed
22.
Holroyd KA, France JL, Nash JM, Hursey KG: Pain state as artifact in psychological assessment of recurrent headache sufferers. Pain 1993, 53:229–235.CrossRefPubMed
23.
Ergün U, Ozer G, Sekercan S, et al.: Headaches in the different phases of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a tendency for stabbing headaches during relapses. Neurologist 2009, 15:212–216.CrossRefPubMed
24.
Gee JR, Chang J, Dublin AB, Vijayan N: The association of brainstem lesions with migraine-like headache: an imaging study of multiple sclerosis. Headache 2005, 45:670–677.CrossRefPubMed
25.
Libera DD, Colombo B, Sebastioano B, et al.: One-Year Prospective Study on Headache Occurrence in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Patients Treated with Natalizumab [poster P01.195]. Presented at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting. Toronto, Canada; April 10–17, 2010.
26.
Pöllmann W, Erasmus LP, Feneberg W, Straube A: The effect of glatiramer acetate treatment on pre-existing headaches in patients with MS. Neurology 2006, 66:275–277.CrossRefPubMed
27.
Compston N, McAlpine D: Some aspects of the natural history of disseminated sclerosis. Q J Med 1952, 21:135–167.PubMed
28.
Freedman MS, Gray TA: Vascular headache: a presenting symptom of multiple sclerosis. Can J Neurol Sci 1989, 16:63–66.PubMed
29.
Watkins SM, Espir M: Migraine and multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1969, 32:35–37.CrossRefPubMed
30.
Filippini G, Munari L, Incorvaia B, et al.: Interferons in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis: a systematic review. Lancet 2003, 361:545–552.CrossRefPubMed
31.
La Mantia L, D’Amico D, Rigamonti A, et al.: Interferon treatment may trigger primary headaches in multiple sclerosis patients. Mult Scler 2006; 12:476–480.CrossRefPubMed
32.
Martínez Sobrepera HJ, Cabrera Gómez JA, Tuero Iglesias A: Exogenous factors in the aetiology of multiple sclerosis in Cuba. A study of cases and controls [in Spanish]. Rev Neurol 2001, 33:931–937.PubMed
33.
Doi H, Matsushita T, Isobe N, et al.: Frequency of chronic headaches in Japanese patients with multiple sclerosis: with special reference to opticospinal and common forms of multiple sclerosis. Headache 2009, 49:1513–1520.CrossRefPubMed
34.
Kister I, Munger K, Herbert J, Ascherio A: Increased Risk of Multiple Sclerosis among Women with Migraine in the Nurses’ Health Study II [poster P01.172]. Presented at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting. Toronto, Canada; April 10–17, 2010.
35.
Zorzon M, Zivadinov R, Nasuelli D, et al.: Risk factors of multiple sclerosis: a case-control study. Neurol Sci 2003, 24:242–247.CrossRefPubMed
36.
Vacca G, Marano E, Brescia Morra V, et al.: Multiple sclerosis and headache co-morbidity. A case-control study. Neurol Sci 2007, 28:133–135.CrossRefPubMed
37.
Warren S, Warren KG: Multiple sclerosis and associated diseases: a relationship to diabetes mellitus. Can J Neurol Sci 1981, 8:35–39.PubMed
38.
Lipton RB, Scher AI, Kolodner K, et al.: Migraine in the United States: epidemiology and patterns of health care use. Neurology 2002, 58:885–894.PubMed
39.
Fragoso YD, Brooks JB: Two cases of lesions in brainstem in multiple sclerosis and refractory migraine. Headache 2007, 47:852–854.CrossRefPubMed
40.
Tortorella P, Rocca MA, Colombo B, et al.: Assessment of MRI abnormalities of the brainstem from patients with migraine and multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Sci 2006, 244:137–141.CrossRefPubMed
41.
Gursoy-Ozdemir Y, Qiu J, Matsuoka N, et al.: Cortical spreading depression activates and upregulates MMP-9. J Clin Invest 2004, 113:1447–1455.PubMed
42.
Stewart WF, Lipton RB, Liberman J: Variation in migraine prevalence by race. Neurology 1996, 47:52–59.PubMed
43.
Noonan CW, Kathman SJ, White MC: Prevalence estimates for MS in the United States and evidence of an increasing trend for women. Neurology 2002, 58:136–138.PubMed
44.
Ascherio A, Munger KL: Environmental risk factors for multiple sclerosis. Part I: the role of infection. Ann Neurol 2007, 61:288–299.
45.
• Marrie RA, Horwitz R, Cutter G, et al.: Comorbidity delays diagnosis and increases disability at diagnosis in MS. Neurology 2009, 72:117–124. This analysis of one of the largest MS datasets, the North American Research Committee of Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS) registry, demonstrated detrimental effect of various comorbidities on time to diagnosis of MS and on rate of disability accumulation. CrossRefPubMed
46.
Buchanan RJ, Wang S, Tai-Seale M, Ju H: Analyses of nursing home residents with multiple sclerosis and depression using the Minimum Data Set. Mult Scler 2003, 9:171–188.CrossRefPubMed
47.
Burstein R, Yarnitsky D, Goor-Aryeh I, et al.: An association between migraine and cutaneous allodynia. Ann Neurol 2000, 47:614–624.CrossRefPubMed
48.
Kitaj MB, Klink M: Pain thresholds in daily transformed migraine versus episodic migraine headache patients. Headache 2005, 45:992–998.CrossRefPubMed
Metadata
Title
Tension-type Headache and Migraine in Multiple Sclerosis
Authors
Ilya Kister
Ana B. Caminero
Joseph Herbert
Richard B. Lipton
Publication date
01-12-2010
Publisher
Current Science Inc.
Published in
Current Pain and Headache Reports / Issue 6/2010
Print ISSN: 1531-3433
Electronic ISSN: 1534-3081
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-010-0143-5

Other articles of this Issue 6/2010

Current Pain and Headache Reports 6/2010 Go to the issue

ReviewPaper

Tension Type Headache in Adolescence and Childhood: Where Are We Now?

ReviewPaper

Patient-derived Determinants for Participation in Placebo-controlled Clinical Trials for Fibromyalgia

ReviewPaper

Tension-Type Headache and Women: Do Sex Hormones Influence Tension-Type Headache?

ReviewPaper

Headache in Patients with Cancer

ReviewPaper

Pure Tension-type Headache Versus Tension-type Headache in the Migraineur

ReviewPaper

Managing Pain in the Elderly Population: Pearls and Pitfalls