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  • OUTLOOK

Closing the gender gap in migraine research

Sex differences in migraine prevalence have been recognized for centuries, but researchers are still just beginning to understand the factors that put women at greater risk.
  1. Michael Eisenstein

    1. Michael Eisenstein is a science journalist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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Women are two to three times more likely than men to have migraines. The condition typically hits women hardest in their thirties, when the consequences of days lost to debilitating pain can be tremendous. “This is when women are going through pregnancy and post-pregnancy, taking care of small children and working at their jobs,” says Jelena Pavlovic, a neurologist at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. “It’s a time when one builds capital for the rest of their life.”

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Nature 586, S16-S17 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-02867-4

This article is part of Nature Outlook: Headache, an editorially independent supplement produced with the financial support of third parties. About this content.

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