There’s excellent news for individuals with migraine who take frequent medicine earlier than or throughout being pregnant — a brand new research discovered no enhance in neurodevelopmental issues resembling autism and ADHD of their youngsters. The research, which checked out medicine used for migraine assaults known as triptans, is revealed on Could 21, 2025, on-line in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The research doesn’t show that there’s a hyperlink between these medicine and neurodevelopment issues.
“These outcomes are encouraging for individuals with migraine, who could also be taking these medicine earlier than they even know that they’re pregnant, and that is useful data for his or her physicians, who could make extra knowledgeable choices about treating individuals with debilitating migraine assaults,” stated research creator Hedvig Nordeng, PhD, of the College of Oslo in Norway.
For the research, researchers used well being registry data for the complete Norwegian inhabitants and recognized 26,210 pregnancies in feminine individuals with migraine initially of being pregnant. Of these, 21,281 individuals, or over 80%, had taken triptans within the 12 months earlier than they turned pregnant and 4,929 of these with migraine had not taken any triptans throughout that point. For many who took the medicine, researchers divided them into 4 teams: individuals who had low use of triptans and stopped utilizing them earlier than being pregnant (42%); individuals who elevated utilizing triptans six months earlier than being pregnant and stopped utilizing them in early being pregnant (31%); individuals who had average triptan use earlier than being pregnant and continued into early being pregnant (21%); and individuals who used triptans earlier than and through being pregnant (6%).
Then researchers adopted the youngsters born for a mean of eight years and up till they have been 14 years previous for some. They checked well being registries for diagnoses of neurodevelopmental issues together with autism spectrum dysfunction, behavioral issues, studying and mental disabilities, speech and language and developmental coordination issues and a spotlight deficit hyperactivity dysfunction (ADHD).
Total, 1,140 youngsters, or 4.3%, have been identified with a neurodevelopmental dysfunction through the research. The most typical have been ADHD and speech and language issues. A complete of two.2% of the youngsters of individuals with the very best use of triptans have been identified with ADHD, in comparison with 2.1% of the youngsters of individuals with migraine who didn’t use the medicine. A complete of 1.1% of the youngsters of individuals with the very best use of the medicine have been identified with speech and language issues, in comparison with 1.0% of kids of people that didn’t use the medicine. When researchers adjusted the outcomes to account for different elements that would have an effect on the chance of neurodevelopmental issues, resembling a mum or dad having a neurodevelopmental dysfunction, folic acid consumption or use of different medicine resembling opioids or antidepressants, they discovered no elevated threat for neurodevelopmental issues amongst youngsters uncovered to triptans prenatally.
“Migraine impacts nearly one in 5 of individuals of childbearing age,” Nordeng stated. “Whereas signs usually enhance throughout being pregnant, about 8% of individuals expertise worsening assaults throughout being pregnant, which might result in elevated dangers of each maternal and fetal issues, so it is important to have remedy choices out there.”
A limitation of the research was that researchers didn’t confirm that folks took their migraine drugs, solely that they crammed their prescriptions, so the precise drug publicity could also be totally different than the estimates.
