Chronic Helicobacter pylori infection and migraine: A case-control study

Objective.-To determine whether chronic Helicobacter pylori infection is a risk factor for migraine. Background.-Preliminary studies have shown a high prevalence of Helicobacte r pylori infection in patients with primary headaches. Methods.-One hundred three consecutive patients with migraine were enrolled in the study and compared with a group of 103 matched controls. Helicobact er pylori infection was diagnosed by means of both C-13-urea breath test an d serology, Results.-Of patients with migraine, 30.1% were positive for Helicobacter py lori, compared with 31.1% of controls (P=NS), The odds ratio for migraine a ssociated with chronic Helicobacter pylori infection was 0.96 (95% confiden ce interval, 0.51 to 1.80), Demographic, clinical, and psychological charac teristics of Helicobacter pylori-positive migraineurs were compared with th ose of migrainous patients without infection. Helicobacter pylori-positive patients had a significantly (P<.05) lower incidence of food sensitivity th an Helicobacter pylori-negative patients. No significant difference was fou nd in any other feature examined. Conclusions.-Our study suggests that chronic Helicobacter pylori infection is not more frequent in patients with migraine than in controls and that in fection does not modify clinical features of the disease.