Can white matter disease cause headaches?

Patients with extensive white matter hyperintensities

hyperintensities

A hyperintensity or T2 hyperintensity is an area of high intensity on types of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brain of a human or of another mammal that reflect lesions produced largely by demyelination and axonal loss.

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Hyperintensity - Wikipedia

are likely to have tension-type headaches

tension-type headaches

Tension headache, also known as stress headache, or tension-type headache (TTH), is the most common type of primary headache. The pain can radiate from the lower back of the head, the neck, eyes or other muscle groups in the body typically affecting both sides of the head.

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Tension headache - Wikipedia

or to have headaches develop during middle age, according to results published in Cephalagia.

Does white matter in brain cause headaches?

In the most recent study about WMH and headache disorders, Honningsvag et al, found that having tension-type headache (TTH) or new onset headache in adulthood is associated with significant WMH. The WMH were specifically found in the deep white matter.

Do you have headaches with white matter disease?

Conclusions. White matter hyperintensities are present in 43.1% of migraine patients. Age, presence of aura, nausea, disability during attack, resistance to treatment, and severity of headache and duration of migraine are considered a risk factor for development of white matter hyperintensities.

What are the symptoms of white matter disease?

Can Leukoaraiosis cause headaches?

The presence in a subgroup of migraineurs of leukoaraiosis (DF), for which a vascular genesis has been hypothesized, suggests that migraine could represent, a cerebrovascular risk factor in these patients.

White matter disease associated with migraine headaches

What does white matter on the brain indicate?

White matter disease is commonly detected on brain MRI of aging individuals as white matter hyperintensities (WMH), or 'leukoaraiosis.” Over the years it has become increasingly clear that the presence and extent of WMH is a radiographic marker of small cerebral vessel disease and an important predictor of the life- ...

What doctor treats white matter disease?

A radiologist, particularly a neuroradiologist, has expertise in what the brain should look like on an MRI. When evaluating for white matter disease, the radiologist will be looking for abnormal signal in the brain tissue.

Is white matter disease the same as MS?

White Matter Consists Mainly of Nerve Fibers

In MS, the immune system attacks the myelin in the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. The attack causes inflammation that eventually leads to sclerosis, which is the medical term for scarring. (That's how MS got its name.)

How do you get rid of white matter in the brain?

White matter disease doesn't have a cure, but there are treatments that can help manage your symptoms. The primary treatment is physical therapy. Physical therapy can help with any balance and walking difficulties you may develop.

Can white matter disease stop?

While there is no known cure for white matter disease, treatments can help to manage the symptoms. Controlling the risk factors associated with heart disease can help decrease the progression of the disease.

Do headaches show up on MRI?

An MRI can't diagnose migraines, cluster, or tension headaches, but it can help doctors rule out other medical conditions that may cause your symptoms, such as: A brain tumor. An infection in your brain, called an abscess. The buildup of fluid in the brain, called hydrocephalus.

What does it mean when your MRI shows white matter?

White matter lesions are among the most common incidental findings—which means the lesions have no clinical significance—on brain scans of people of any age. They may also reflect a mixture of inflammation, swelling, and damage to the myelin.

Can white matter in the brain be repaired?

White matter injuries are very serious, but, depending on the type and extent of the injury, extensive recovery may occur. As long as the neuron cell bodies remain healthy, axons can regrow and slowly repair themselves.

What happens to your brain when you have a headache?

Headache pain results from signals interacting among the brain, blood vessels and surrounding nerves. During a headache, an unknown mechanism activates specific nerves that affect muscles and blood vessels. These nerves send pain signals to the brain.

Can stress cause white matter lesions?

Increased exposures to stressful events are associated with a corresponding increase in the progression of white matter hyperintensities.

Can MS be mistaken for migraines?

Various similarities between migraine and MS increase the likelihood of misdiagnosis. The two disorders are chronic and entail attacks and remissions. Both are associated with changes in brain structure and white matter abnormalities that may be subclinical.

Does white matter disease cause memory loss?

Unlike Alzheimer's disease which shrinks the hippocampus causing progressive memory loss, white matter disease is a more diffuse mind-robbing condition that targets small blood vessels deep within the brain's white matter.

Is white matter disease rare?

Although it is a rare disorder, it is believed to be one of the most common inherited diseases that affect the white matter.

Is white matter disease genetic?

Leukodystrophies are a group of rare, genetic disorders that affect the white matter of the brain. The word leukodystrophy comes from leuko, which means white, and dystrophy, which means imperfect growth. Leukodystrophies are characterized by this abnormal growth of white matter in the brain.

What is the life expectancy of someone with white matter disease?

Within 2 years, children can develop gait and posture problems, as well as blindness and paralysis. It is not possible to stop disease progression, and it is typically fatal within 6 months to 4 years of symptom onset.

Can white matter disease be misdiagnosed?

We have seen several patients in whom we believe MS was misdiagnosed, based on observation of white matter lesions. As MS is rare, and migraine extremely common (roughly 14% of population), there is a substantial chance of a false positive diagnostic error.

What does Leukoaraiosis mean?

The term leukoaraiosis refers to neuroimaging abnormalities of the white matter, which appear as hypodense or hyperintense areas, are located predominantly in the periventricular area, and are found especially in older people [1,2].

Does white matter increase with age?

Age-correlated studies reveal that the changes in white matter may be much higher than those of gray matter (Miller et al., 1980). Upto 40 years of age, the white matter volume increases and is closely related to the formation of the myelin sheath (Courchesne et al., 2000; Bartzokis, 2004).

Can migraines cause white matter lesions?

Migraine is associated with an increased risk of deep white matter lesions, subclinical posterior circulation infarcts and brain iron accumulation: the population-based MRI CAMERA Study.

What does it mean to have white matter disease?

White matter disease is the wearing away of tissue in the largest and deepest part of your brain that has a number of causes, including aging. This tissue contains millions of nerve fibers, or axons, that connect other parts of the brain and spinal cord and signal your nerves to talk to one another.