A recent study published online in *Neurology* on July 31 highlights significant gender differences in the relationship between cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) and migraine prevalence. Conducted by Linda Al-Hassany and her team from Erasmus MC University Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, the research focused on how traditional CVRFs affect migraine risk among men and women.

The study, which analyzed data from an ongoing population-based cohort involving 7,266 middle-aged and elderly participants, revealed a lifetime migraine prevalence of 14.9 percent. 

For women, several traditional CVRFs were found to be inversely associated with migraine risk. Specifically, current smoking (odds ratio, 0.72), higher pack-years of smoking (odds ratio per standard deviation increase, 0.91), diabetes mellitus (odds ratio, 0.74), and elevated fasting glucose levels (odds ratio per SD increase, 0.90) were linked to a lower prevalence of migraine. 

Conversely, higher diastolic blood pressure was associated with a higher migraine prevalence (odds ratio per SD increase, 1.16).

Interestingly, the study found no significant associations between CVRFs and migraine risk in men. The authors suggest that these findings may indicate the role of nontraditional factors and impaired microvascular function, particularly as reflected by increased diastolic blood pressure, in influencing migraine risk.

It is important to note that one of the authors has disclosed connections to the pharmaceutical industry.