Is there a link between migraine intensity and summer temperatures?

According to a recent study conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Errex Inc., and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., rising temperatures could lead to an increase in migraine attacks. The findings were presented at the 66th annual meeting of the American Headache Society in San Diego, California.


Vincent Martin, director of the Headache and Facial Pain Center at the University of Cincinnati and lead author of the study, explains that climate changes are among the most common triggers of migraines. The study examined the use of fremanezumab, a medication designed to prevent migraines caused by rising temperatures. This drug, marketed as AJOVY® by Teva Pharmaceuticals, is a subcutaneous injection that is part of a class of monoclonal antibodies that have emerged in the past six years to treat migraines. These drugs block a protein known as CGRP (calcitonin gene-related peptide), which is responsible for transmitting pain in the brain and nervous system.

The researchers analyzed 71,030 daily journal records from 660 migraine patients alongside regional weather data. They found that for every 10-degree Fahrenheit (approximately 6 degrees Celsius) increase in daily temperature, there was a 6% increase in headache occurrences. However, this association completely disappeared during periods of treatment with fremanezumab.

Fred Cohen, co-author of the study and assistant professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, highlights that this study is the first to suggest that migraine-specific therapies blocking CGRP could treat headaches associated with weather conditions. Vincent Martin adds that if these results are confirmed in future studies, this drug therapy could help many people who suffer from climate-triggered migraines.

The researchers also noted the importance of these findings given the diversity of weather conditions across the United States. Al Peterlin, co-author of the study and former chief meteorologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, recalls that Hippocrates, the father of medicine, believed that climate and health were intimately linked. Today, these results confirm that climate has an influence on human health, particularly on migraines.