Red wine most common migraine trigger among alcoholic drinks

Alcoholic beverages are frequently reported migraine triggers. Gisela Terwindt, the Leiden University Medical Center, Netherlands, and colleagues conducted the study to investigate which alcoholic beverages are frequently reported as a migraine trigger, estimate trigger consistency and the time to attack onset in a large, well‐defined cohort of patients with a migraine, and explore the effect on alcohol consumption behaviour.

For the purpose, the research team conducted a cross‐sectional, web‐based, questionnaire study among 2197 patients with migraine from the well‐defined Leiden University MIgraine Neuro‐Analysis (LUMINA) study population. They then assessed alcoholic beverage consumption and self‐reported trigger potential, reasons behind alcohol abstinence and time between alcohol consumption and migraine attack onset.

• Alcoholic beverages were reported as a trigger by 35.6% of participants with a migraine.


• Over 25% of patients with a migraine who had stopped consuming or never consumed alcoholic beverages did so because of presumed trigger effects.


• Wine, especially red wine (77.8% of participants), was recognized as the most common trigger among alcoholic beverages.


• Red wine, however, consistently led to an attack in only 8.8% of participants.


• Time of onset was rapid (<3 h) in one‐third of patients and almost 90% had an onset <10 h independent of beverage type.

The authors noted that it can be debated if alcohol is a factual or a presumed trigger. Additional studies are needed to unravel this relationship.

"Alcohol-triggered migraine occurs rapid after intake of alcoholic beverages, suggesting a different mechanism than a normal hangover," said senior author Dr. Terwindt.

"Our results illustrate that alcoholic beverages are frequently recognized as migraine trigger factors and have a substantial effect on alcohol consumption behavior. It can be debated if alcohol is a factual or a presumed trigger. Low consistency of provocation suggests that alcoholic beverages acting as singular migraine trigger is insufficient and may depend on a fluctuating trigger threshold," concluded the authors.

For further reference follow the link: https://doi.org/10.1111/ene.13861