Name of study: Migraineurs suffer from reduced sleep quality
By who and where: King’s College, London
What does it say?
1) People who suffer from migraines have significantly impaired sleep quality.
2) Their sleep cycle, considered crucial for thinking and memory, is altered.
3) Those who have migraines had a lower percentage of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep than others. Children suffering migraines go off to sleep quickly but get much less sleep overall.
For:
Sleep deteriorates
Dr M Wali, Senior Consultant, Medicine, Sir Gangaram Hospital, New Delhi
It has been observed that migraines usually happen between 4 and 9 am. These hours are considered to be a good time for sleep. Sudden headaches can disturb the pattern badly. It is true that people with migraines have less REM sleep. REM or rapid eye movement is important because it stimulates the areas of the brain that are responsible for learning and retaining information. The time usually starts about 90 minutes after you have fallen asleep and is characterised by vivid and active dreams that help process information.
Against:
It’s a generalisation
Dr Roopesh Kumar Senior Consultant and Neurosurgeon, Apollo Hospitals, Chennai
To say that migraineurs suffer from disturbed sleep is a generalisation. However, sleep deprivation could lead to a migraine attack. Not just that, excess sleeping can also predispose one to an attack. Most patients are on medications, which have sedatives, and this could lead to a migraine attack. Also, the study isn’t a causative study, which always has limitations. It also does not address whether migraine patients had migraines during sleep or not, so there is a need for more scientific evidence to say whether migraines cause sleep disturbances.