Researchers from Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands recently conducted a study, published in the European Journal of Neurology, to determine the association between the severe headache and alcoholic consumption.
To do so, they examined more than 2,000 adults who experienced migraines and reported alcohol consumption as a trigger. The scientists also tracked when the subjects’ symptoms began.
After analyzing the results, they found more than 25 percent of migraine patients who stopped drinking or never drank alcohol did so because of presumed trigger effects.
Of all the alcohol beverages, wine, especially red, was recognized as the most common headache trigger for more than 77 percent of the participants. However, the drink only led to migraines for about 8 percent of them.
Overall, they said a third of patients got a migraine less than three hours after drinking alcohol. About 90 percent of them got one after 10 hours.
“Alcohol-triggered migraine occurs rapidly after intake of alcoholic beverages, suggesting a different mechanism than a normal hangover,” senior study author Gisela Terwindt.
Despite the findings, the team noted they do not yet understand the relationship between alcohol and migraines. They said more research is needed
"It can be debated if alcohol is a factual or a presumed trigger," the team concluded. "Low consistency of provocation suggests that alcoholic beverages acting as singular migraine trigger is insufficient and may depend on a fluctuating trigger threshold."
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