Headaches and Multiple Sclerosis Linked - This is News?

Anyone living with multiple sclerosis could have seen this one coming: Researchers have linked headaches with having multiple sclerosis (MS). What is surprising to me is that the study design has only been able to detect a "hint" that people with multiple sclerosis have more headaches than the general population.

A study in the November edition of the journal Cephalalgia compared 101 people with MS to 101 people without MS, 58% of the people with MS had headaches while only 31% of those without MS had headaches. Statistically, this shows a mere "hint" that headaches are a symptom of MS.

Come on, people...
Now really, anyone living with multiple sclerosis knows that headaches are a part of life. My guess is that what is happening here is that people with MS have a higher headache-threshold than non-MS people. In other words, people with MS have to deal with so many things that a mild headache simply does not register, or they chalk it up to fatigue (I know I do). The researchers used the same diagnostic criteria for headaches in both groups, even though it is very plausible that people with multiple sclerosis experience pain different from the general population.

Read more about what I have to say about headaches and MS here:

• Headaches as a Symptom of Multiple Sclerosis
• Treating Headaches in People with Multiple Sclerosis