Patients with chronic migraine who turn to cannabis to relieve headache pain may be setting themselves up for medication overuse headache, preliminary research suggests, although the direction of the relationship is unclear.
Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, found a significant increase in the likelihood of medication overuse headache (rebound headache) in chronic migraine patients who use cannabis.
Dr Niushen Zhang
"This study shows that there is some kind of association between cannabis use and medication overuse headache in people with chronic migraine," lead investigator Niushen Zhang, MD, who directs the headache fellowship program at Stanford, told Medscape Medical News.
"But it is unclear at this time whether patients are using cannabis to treat medication overuse headache or if cannabis is contributing to the development medication overuse headache, or both," she said.
The findings will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) 2021 Annual Meeting in April.
Sixfold Increase
"Medication overuse occurs in about 1% to 3% of the general population. It affects nearly one third of the patients (mostly patients with chronic migraine) seen at tertiary care centers such as the Stanford Headache Center," Zhang said.
From clinical observations, patients with chronic migraine and medication overuse headache appear to be concomitantly using cannabis products, yet there is currently very little research on this topic, she added.
