Medscape Medical News
Eve Bender
May 03, 2024
Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), which are used to control acid reflux, are associated with an increased risk for migraine and other severe headache types, new research showed.
Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) investigators conducted a cross-sectional analysis and found all types of acid-suppression therapy were associated with an increased risk for severe headache including migraine but that PPI’s conferred the greatest risk.
“It’s important to note that many people do need acid-reducing medications to manage acid reflux or other conditions, and people with migraine or severe headache who are taking these drugs or supplements should talk with their doctors about whether they should continue,” lead author Margaret Slavin, PhD, of the University of Maryland in College Park, said in a press release.
The findings were published online April 24, 2024, in Neurology Clinical Practice.
New Look at Old Data
Previous research has shown that headache is listed among the most common adverse reactions in adults taking PPIs and histamine receptor agonists (H2RAs), which include cimetidine, famotidine, and nizatidine.
Other large studies of health databases have shown increased headache risk within a week of PPI exposure.
To compare the risk from PPIs vs H2RAs and other generic researchers analyzed data from the NHANES for those who used PPIs, H2RAs, and generic antacids to learn more about the potential link between acid-suppression therapy and headache.
They used survey data from 1999 to 2004, the only years the NHANES included a question about migraine and other headache during the past 3 months.
Investigators analyzed data for 11,800 participants aged ≥ 20 years who used prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and nutritional supplements during the past month.
Participants who used acid-suppressing medications had an increased risk for migraine or severe headache vs those who did not use these agents. Investigators found PPIs were tied to a 70% increased risk, while H2RAs and antacids were associated with 40% and 30% higher risks, respectively. Use of any type of acid-suppression therapy was tied to a 47% increased risk for severe headache.
Magnesium a Risk Factor?
While magnesium supplements are sometimes prescribed as a “natural” headache prevention therapy to prevent migraine and other headache types, the investigators noted they were surprised to find individuals taking H2RAs who met the dietary reference intake for magnesium had a nearly threefold increased risk for migraine or severe headache (odds ratio, 2.80; 95% CI, 1.02-1.45; P = .025).
However, there was no association between magnesium and the other acid-reducing medications.
The study’s limitations included the use of a single question to identify migraine or severe headache, which may have resulted in some misclassification of the outcome. The authors also pointed out that dietary and drug-intake data may be subject to recall bias.
“These results suggest that there is a need for more intentionally designed prospective
work to inform the extent to which associations between migraine and acid-suppression therapy are merely detecting comorbidities or to what extent migraine is an adverse event associated with the medications,” the authors wrote.
There was no targeted funding. Disclosures are noted in the original article.
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