Migraine in high altitude

ABSTRACT

The characters and demographic data of migraine in 1200 patients suffering from migraine were studied to compare the results at the sea level and at high altitude. It was found that 60% of the patients came from high altitude areas, while 40% came from sea level areas. In both locations women had a greater frequency of headaches. 56.4% of the patients were aged between 20 and 50 years, there was no big difference between both locations regarding the age distribution except in children below 9 years and the elderly above 60 years. 60% of patients at the sea level reported having one attack or less per month while 61% of high altitude patients have three or more attacks per month. The frequency rate of the attacks reported to be increased in 60% of high altitude patients during or after physical exertion. The average duration of attacks for patients at the sea level was 18 hours, compared with 23 hours for patients at high altitude. EEG was abnormal in 22% of the sea level patients compared with 20% in high altitude. Alpha depression was the main abnormality as it represented 85%, while transient slow activity represented 15%. Migraine is not an uncommon disease with high percentage at even moderately high altitude areas