Scientists from the Netherlands report that people with frequent migraine headaches or a long history of migraines are at an increased risk of progressive brain damage, according to research published in the most recent issue of Headache, the journal of the American Headache Society.

The scientists identified 28 migraine patients and examined their brains using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). They found that patients who had more than 3 migraine attacks per month showed significantly more abnormalities than those who had less than 3 attacks per month. The same was true for patients with more than 15 years of migraine headaches.

It is not known what the significance of these abnormalities is in terms of cognitive function or effects on overall survival. So, additional research is needed to investigate the cause, as well as the potential consequences, of these MRI abnormalities.