The Prevalence of Headache in Crohn's Disease: Single-Center Experience

Migraine and gastrointestinal disorders in middle and old age: A UK Biobank study

INTRODUCTION

Migraine is a prevalent condition causing a substantial level of disability worldwide. Despite this, the pathophysiological mechanisms are not fully understood. Migraine often co-occurs with gastrointestinal disorders, but the direction of a potential causal link is unclear. The aim of this project was to investigate the associations between migraine and several gastrointestinal disorders in the same cohort in order to determine the relative strengths of these associations.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study examined whether migraine is associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), peptic ulcers, Helicobacter pylori (HP) infections, celiac disease, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Baseline data covering 489,753 UK Biobank participants (migraine group: n = 14,180) were analyzed using Pearson's chi-square tests and adjusted binary logistic regression models.

RESULTS

Migraine was significantly associated with IBS (odds ratio [OR] 2.24, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.08-2.40, p <.001) and peptic ulcers (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.35-1.77, p <.001). Migraine was not associated with HP infection (OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.04-1.73, p = .024), celiac disease (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.04-1.60, p = .023), Crohn's disease (OR 1.08, 95% CI 0.80-1.45, p = .617) or ulcerative colitis (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.79-1.27, p = .979) after adjusting for multiple testing.

CONCLUSIONS

Migraine was associated with IBS and peptic ulcers in this large population-based cohort. The associations with HP infection, celiac disease, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis did not reach significance, suggesting a weaker link between migraine and autoimmune gastrointestinal conditions or HP infection.

Electroencephalography Findings in Crohn's Disease

OBJECTIVES

Crohn's Disease (CD) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease associated with various extraintestinal manifestations, including seizure as a neurological finding. In this study, the prevalence of seizure and electroencephalographic abnormalities in patients with CD was investigated.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study involved 41 patients with CD (female/male: 25/16) and 39 subjects in the control group (female/male: 25/14). Patients in the CD group were diagnosed and monitored according to the European Crohn's and Colitis Organization diagnostic criteria. The control group was composed of healthy subjects with similar age and sex as the CD group. Seizures were classified according to the criteria of the International League Against Epilepsy. Electroencephalography (EEG) was performed for all patients with CD and for healthy subjects. Seizure prevalence and EEG findings were also compared.

RESULTS

One patient in the CD group had history of seizures. EEG abnormality was significantly higher in the CD group (16/41, 39%) ( P = .001). The most common EEG abnormality was intermittent generalized slow wave abnormality in theta frequency.

DISCUSSION

Our study indicated that CD was associated with EEG abnormalities rather than seizure. The results also indicated that EEG was a potential indicator for detecting subclinical neurological abnormalities in CD.