Colic has long been believed to be gastrointestinal pain in babies, say doctors, but new research suggests it may actually be related to migraine headaches instead.
Could colic—bouts of frequent, inconsolable crying during an infant's first months of life—be an early symptom of a migraine? A study out today is the latest to suggest that the two common pain conditions may be connected.
(Photo: Tatjana Alvegard, Getty Images)
According to the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, children diagnosed with migraine headaches were more likely to have experienced colic as infants (72.6%) than those who did not have migraine (26.5%).
And the increased odds existed for the two major migraine subtypes, as well: migraines preceded or accompanied by an "aura"—sensory warning symptoms such as flashes of light or blind spots (69.7%) and migraine without aura (73.9%). This association was not found for children with tension-type headaches (35%).
Researchers analyzed health records and questionnaires completed by parents for 208 children ages 6 to 18 who were diagnosed as having migraines and compared them with information on 471 kids and teens who were not. A comparison group of 120 children diagnosed with tension headaches also was studied.
A study published last year found that mothers who suffer from migraines are more than twice as likely to have babies with colic than mothers without a history of migraines.
Read more on USA Today.
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