Key clinical point: In American adults aged 20-50 years, a shorter telomere length was associated with an increased risk for migraine; however, no such association was found in adults older than 50 years.
Major findings: In adults aged 20-50 years, a decrease in the ratio of telomeric repeats to single-copy genes was associated with an increased risk for migraine (odds ratio [OR], 1.48; P = .047). Those with the shortest telomeres were at a greater risk for migraine than those with the longest telomeres (OR, 1.35; P = .043). Such an association was not observed in adults older than 50 years.
Study details: This cross-sectional study analyzed data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2002) on migraine and leukocyte telomere length in 6169 adults with or without migraine.
Disclosure: The study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province and the Central Government Guides Local Funds for Science and Technology Development. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Geng D, Liu H, Wang H, et al . Telomere length exhibits inverse association with migraine among Americans aged 20–50 years, without implications beyond age 50: A cross-sectional study. Sci Rep. 2024;14:22597. Source