It’s a pain that affects nearly one in two people in the world, according to the WHO: headaches. Different factors can explain their appearance, including stress, fatigue, overwork, lack of sleep or even dehydration. Canadian researchers have wondered about the causes that could particularly affect young people.
According to specialists from the University of Calgary in Canada, skipping a meal and consumption and exposure to substances, particularly electronic cigarettes, would increase the risk of headaches. Their results are published in the magazine Neurology.
Headaches: young people skipping a meal or using an electronic cigarette regularly may be at greater risk
To arrive at these results, the researchers based themselves on data from a “extensive health survey”, conducted in Canada and collecting the habits of nearly 5 million children and adolescents aged 5 to 17. The latter were asked in particular whether they had experienced headaches in the last six months and how often they appeared.
For participants aged between 12 and 17, researchers asked them about their habits regarding the consumption of substances such as alcohol, cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, cannabis and their exposure. The specialists also collected information on the eating habits of these young people, namely whether they ate breakfast and whether they ate at the table with their family.
Anxiety and mood disorders impact the appearance of headaches
The researchers noticed that participants who regularly ate breakfast and dinner with their family were at risk 8% lower frequency of frequent headaches than those who did not eat regular meals. As for exposure to different substances, the researchers noted that “THE Electronic cigarettes were used daily by 8% of participants with frequent headaches, compared to 3% of participants with one headache or less per week.
After adjusting their results according to different factors such as lifestyle or household income, the researchers note that “those who used electronic cigarettes daily had twice the risk suffer from frequent headaches than those who never used e-cigarettes.” Another remark from the researchers, mental health would have an impact on headaches, because “Participants with anxiety and mood disorders had twice the risk of frequent headaches compared to those without them.”
To limit frequent headaches, researchers call for lifestyle changes
“It is not uncommon for children and adolescents to have headaches, and although medications are used to stop and sometimes prevent headaches, lifestyle changes can also offer a effective way to relieve them preventing the onset of headaches and improving quality of life”specifies in a press release Serena L. Orr of the University of Calgary in Canada and member of the American Academy of Neurology.
According to her, “asking about lifestyle factors, such as substance abuse, can help healthcare professionals identify lifestyle interventions that may be helpful to young people and help reduce frequent headaches” .
Sources:
- Lifestyle Factors Associated With Frequent Recurrent Headaches in Children and Adolescents – Neurology.
- For Young People, Irregular Meals, E-Cigarette Use Linked to Frequent Headaches – American Academy of Neurology (AAN)