Photograph by KATE JACOBS, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
The study shows that tracking sleep and other triggering factors may not only predict headaches in some patients, but it might also help develop tools to prevent them. Through a smartphone app, they were asked to track their anxiety, mood, energy, stress, and headaches, four times each day for two weeks. Each morning, volunteers also reported on the quality of their sleep the night before, which was also measured via a wearable device.
This study is impressive in not only the large number of people studied at a wide range of ages, but also in the much higher percentage of men included, which is unusual for many migraine studies, says Jelena Pavlovic, a migraine specialist at the Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, NY. The study didn’t find any connection between feeling anxious or depressed and headaches the next day, so long as the sleep or energy levels were not disturbed.
"This study reaffirms that one of the most effective treatments for migraine is a regular good night's sleep," says Pavlovic. While some migraine attacks are unavoidable in patients, the earlier someone can treat their headache, generally, the shorter and less burdensome their symptoms would be, says Pavlovic.