Writing in the journal Cephalalgia, Dr Emma Varkey, from Cephalea Headache Centre in Gothenburg, Sweden, and colleagues explain: “Our knowledge about headache and physical activity is limited, and few population-based studies have evaluated this relationship.”
To address this, the researchers studied data from two Norwegian surveys in which more than 69,000 participants completed health questionnaires and provided information on physical activity levels and headaches.
Analysis of data from the first survey, in which participants were followed up 11 years later, revealed that those who rarely engaged in physical exercise were 14% more likely to have developed regular non-migraine headaches, but not migraines, over the intervening period.
Data from the second survey showed that people who regularly suffered from any type of headache, including migraines, were more likely to be physically inactive than their headache-free counterparts.
Overall, there was a significant association between lower levels of physical activity and an increased frequency of headaches in patients with either migraines or non-migraine headaches.
Dr Varkey and team conclude that “physical inactivity among headache-free individuals is a risk factor for non-migraine headache and that individuals with headache are less physically active than those without headache”.
They add: “It is possible that people with migraine avoid exercise, since it is a migraine trigger, and therefore are less active. One should, however, also be open to the opposite possibility, that regular physical activity may, at least to some extent, prevent headache or reduce headache frequency.
“However, randomized controlled studies are needed to evaluate this.”