Monsoon weather causes increase in migraines

PHOENIX -- The Arizona monsoon is fueling an increase in visits by migraine sufferers to doctors and emergency rooms.

Dr. Todd Levine with Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center said migraines can be much more common in the summer because of the heat and hydration, along with changes in barometric pressure.

And dust storms just intensify the headache problem.

"Allergies often can mix in, causing more of the chronic tension headaches, so with the dust blowing, we'll see more of those as well," Levine said.

Drinking too much water can touch off a migraine "so it's important for people, particularly if they're working outdoors a lot or exposed to the heat a lot to drink not just water, but to drink something that has electrolytes."

Too much water will lower the sodium in the blood, Levine said, so "some Gatorade or teas or even some soda that has some salt in it can be really helpful."

Longer summer days can throw sleep patterns out of whack and contribute to headaches.

"What patients will often find is nights that they don't sleep well, they will be much more likely to wake up with a headache. That's a bad type of headache for patients because it's difficult to treat the headache early."

Doctors and emergency rooms about twice as many women with migraines as men, Levine said.

"The estrogen change seems to be very important. It's interesting, actually, if you look at children before puberty, it's actually more common in boys than in girls. Once the whole hormonal cycle kicks in, it becomes more common in women than men."