Research released today, and scheduled to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans, April 21 to April 28, 2012, suggests that mothers with a history of migraines are more likely to have babies who have problems with colic. Colic is when a baby cries far more than a normal, healthy infant who might be hungry, need changing or have a little wind.

Study author Amy Gelfand, MD, child neurologist, from the Headache Center at the University of California, San Francisco, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology said :

“Since migraine is a highly genetic disorder, our study suggests that infant colic may be an early sign that a child may be predisposed toward migraine headache later in life … Colic may be another example of a childhood periodic syndrome, which is often a precursor to migraine.”

The researchers looked at more than 150 mothers and their babies, and colic was reported by questions the scientists developed – using standard criteria for identifying colic. Mothers who had a history of colic were two and a half times more likely to have babies with colic, than those who did not have migraines. In all, twenty nine percent of infants had colic when mothers had a history of migraines, whereas only eleven percent of babies had colics when their mothers didn’t have migraines.

The data was collected from only a small number of families and probably needs more thorough research involving a few thousand subjects, but it is interesting, none the less, and might help to at least identify and assist mothers who have a history of migraines in dealing with their infants more effectively.

Gelfand concludes that :

“This may be helpful in more accurately identifying children who have childhood periodic syndromes by asking about a history of infant colic. In addition, this study helps to advance our understanding about the different expressions of migraine across a person’s lifetime.”

Written by Rupert Shepherd