Interrelationships of neurochemicals, estrogen, and recurring headache.

Abstract

Recurring headache syndromes, such as migraine, are common problems for women throughout their adult lives. Headache symptoms often fluctuate over the years that they are present and, for most headache sufferers, these changes seem to occur randomly. For many women, however, chronic headache changes in predictable patterns in relation to alterations in hormonal states. Clinically, headache is often modified during menses, pregnancy, and menopause. Although sex hormones are changing with these clinical events, this paper will present the more important link between altered sex hormones and changes in neurochemicals believed to be responsible for recurring headache syndromes according to the neurobiological theory of migraine.