Temporal, Environmental, and Genetic Factors Regulating Exercise and Migraine

Plain-language summary

Chronic pain, of which migraine is among the most common, affects 100 million US adults and costs between $560 to $635 billion dollars annually. There is a need for effective, low-cost non-pharmacological strategies to reduce migraine load in migraineurs (based on International Headache Society classification International Classification of Headache Disorders \[ICHD\]-3; experience headache \[migraine-like or tension-type-like\] on 15+ days/month for 3+ months, and have migraine headaches \[either with aura or without aura\] on 8+ days/month). This represents an area of interest, as common migraine medications induce central nervous system side-effects including aphasia, ataxia, somnolescence, and vertigo; and 79% of suffers have an interest in trying novel treatment strategies with lower adverse effects than medications. Exercise has been shown to be a non-pharmacological intervention to reduce migraine burden. However, how environmental (i.e. - time-of-day, exposure to nature) and genetic factors (i.e. - polymorphisms in circadian and migraine associated genes) impact the laudatory effects of exercise remains unknown. There are independently established heritable components to migraine frequency (65%), circadian rhythm (70%), and aerobic power during exercise (66%). Thus, the central hypothesis is that an optimal environment can improve the exercise-induced reduction in migraine load, which is influenced by genetic heritability of migraine related gene polymorphisms.

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