Is migraine a genetic illness? The various forms of migraine share a common genetic cause

Abstract

Is migraine a genetic illness? This question was previously controversial, but today the answer yes is generally accepted. The scientific evidence is the significantly increased familial risk of migraine, and the significantly higher concordance rate of migraine in monozygotic than dizygotic twin pairs. Finally, the three identified ion-channel genes that can cause familial hemiplegic migraine provide very strong evidence of genetics. Mutations in these genes can also cause sporadic hemiplegic migraine. The next question is whether the different types of migraine, i.e. migraine without aura, migraine with aura, sporadic hemiplegic migraine and familial hemiplegic migraine share a common genetic cause. This question is at present controversial. However, the fact that all types of migraine are paroxystic in nature suggest that a common genetic cause could be mutations in ion channels, although a common mutation has not yet been identified in the more common types of migraine: migraine without aura and migraine with aura.