Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Headache is the most common complaint of the patients, who applied to general outpatient clinics. In recent years, association between metabolic syndrome, obesity, and primary headaches has attracted much attention. Our aim was to investigate the association between headache and hyperlipidemia.

METHODS

92 participants having hyperlipidemia and 100 healthy controls were enrolled this study. All participants were checked for their total cholesterol, HDL and LDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. The diagnosis of hyperlipidemia was made according to National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. We investigated the precence of headache, the duration, frequency of headache, the duration of headache attack, and the severity of headache.

RESULTS

Mean age of the participants was 37± 13,8 years. Of all participiants, 106 (%55,2) were females, 86 (%44,8) were males. Two groups were similar in terms of gender and years. In hyperlipidemia group, 30 (%32,6) patients had headache, in control group 16 ( %16,0) had headache. This difference was statistically significant (p=0,04). There was no statistically different between the groups according to headache type (p=0,9). The patients with hyperlipidemia had significantly higher VAS and duration of headache attack compared to the controls (p = 0,003, p= 0,04).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Our study suggests that headache may be frequent in hyperlipidemia patients. Therefore, clinicans should be aware of headache in hyperlipidemia patients.