Migraine Subgroups

Award-winning study presented at the Scientific Meeting may allow health care specialists to develop more individualized treatment plans

At the 60th Annual Scientific Meeting in San Francisco just a few weeks ago, leading migraine experts and headache specialists revealed new research that identified distinct respiratory, psychiatric, cardiovascular and pain-related comorbidities among people living with migraine. The identification of these migraine subgroups may open the door for experts to better understand the condition. This may also enable them to make biological and genetic characterizations of the condition, allowing more for individualized treatment approaches for those living with migraine.

The web-based landmark study presented at the meeting is titled “Identifying Natural Subgroups of Migraine Based on Profiles of Comorbidities and Concomitant Conditions: Results of the Chronic Migraine Epidemiology and Outcomes (CaMEO) Study” by Richard B. Lipton, MD, FAHS; Kristina M. Fanning, PhD; Dawn C. Buse, PhD; Vincent T. Martin, MD; Michael L. Reed, PhD; Aubrey Manack Adams, PhD; Peter J. Goadsby, MD, PhD, FAHS. The study examined the way in which migraine subgroups may enable health care professionals to determine a more personal treatment approach for each patient. The findings of the study led researchers to identify eight migraine subgroups. They are as follows:

1. Many comorbidities
2. Respiratory and psychiatric
3. Respirator and pain
4. Respiratory
5. Psychiatric
6. Cardiovascular
7. Pain
8. Few comorbidities

Each of these subgroups showed unique differences in the patterns of treatment and features of migraine. Additional research is needed to evaluate the prognostic differences among each subgroup.

Please head to Yerba Buena Ballroom for the Harold G. Wolff Award #Lecture, delivered by Richard Lipton. Dr. Lipton's research identified natural subgroups of #migraine by examining profiles of comorbidities and concomitant conditions from the #CaMEO study. #AHS18SFpic.twitter.com/270kE7Sg9J

— American Headache Society (@ahsheadache) June 29, 2018

At the Scientific Meeting, the American Headache Society presented Dr. Lipton, Director of the Montefiore Headache Center, Professor of Neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and past-president of the American Headache Society, with the prestigious Harold G. Wolff Lecture Award for his research on this topic. This annual award is presented to the best research on the nature of face pain, including headache and migraine, and it is the fifth time Dr. Lipton has received this honor. Dr. Lipton delivered the Harold G. Wolff Award Lecture at the Meeting.

The American Headache Society is committed to keeping its members up to date on the most innovative and meaningful advancements in the realm of headache medicine. The Society’s objectives are to promote the exchange of information and ideas concerning the causes and treatments of headache and related painful disorders, and to share and advance the work of its members. Learn more about the American Headache Society’s work and find out how you can become a member today.