Migraine sufferers may have an actual cure for the condition coming down the line soon — a (“well-tried” and “safe”) heart surgery.
The heart defect is known as patent foramen ovale (PFO). It rarely affects health and most people live their lives unaware that they have it.
About 20 years ago it was found by chance that, in divers, there was a link between PFO and migraine attacks. When they needed a PFO closure to treat decompression sickness, those who suffered migraine reported that attacks had stopped.
More recently PFO has become associated with an increased risk of stroke, and interest in migraine in the general population has been renewed.
With PFO, a flap between the two upper chambers of the heart fails to close completely at birth. This allows balls of deoxygenated blood in the right atrium to pass into the left atrium, where they mix with the oxygenated blood being pumped to all parts of the body including the brain. These balls of blood have not been filtered properly and can carry with them bits of a clot or chemicals. It is this, the doctors speculate, that could trigger the migraine attacks if they reach the brain.
Clinical trials are getting underway in the UK to see if the surgery that can take care of PFO will actually alleviate migraines.