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Sex- and Gender-Specific Aspects of Migraine Treatment

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Gender and Migraine

Part of the book series: Headache ((HEAD))

Abstract

Migraine prevalence is three times higher in women than in men, which is mainly due to sex hormone differences. Hormonal fluctuations related to the menstruation and menopausal transition phase are associated with increased incidence of migraine attacks. Especially migraine attacks triggered by hormonal changes are more resistant to pharmacological treatment. This chapter describes the current knowledge on the role of hormonal fluctuations throughout the menstrual cycle in migraine patients. Further, specific treatments for pure menstrual migraine, menstrually related migraine, and perimenopausal migraine are discussed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Pharmacology, Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Daphne S. van Casteren & Antoinette Maassen van den Brink

  2. Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Daphne S. van Casteren

  3. Boerhaave Medisch Centrum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Emile G. M. Couturier

Authors
  1. Daphne S. van Casteren
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  2. Emile G. M. Couturier
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  3. Antoinette Maassen van den Brink
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daphne S. van Casteren .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Pharmacology and Vascular Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Antoinette Maassen van den Brink

  2. Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK

    E. Anne MacGregor

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van Casteren, D.S., Couturier, E.G.M., van den Brink, A.M. (2019). Sex- and Gender-Specific Aspects of Migraine Treatment. In: Maassen van den Brink, A., MacGregor, E. (eds) Gender and Migraine. Headache. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02988-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02988-3_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-02987-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-02988-3

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