ReviewThe journal of headache and pain2018
Male and female sex hormones in primary headaches.
Review in The journal of headache and pain, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 93 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
93 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 279 citations in OpenAlex.
- Determining the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for the treatment of menstrual migraine: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Genome-wide analysis of 102,084 migraine cases identifies 123 risk loci and subtype-specific risk alleles.Nature genetics · 2022Pooled it
- The Prevalence of Migraine With Anxiety Among Genders.Frontiers in neurology · 2020Pooled it
- Giving Researchers a Headache - Sex and Gender Differences in Migraine.Frontiers in neurology · 2020Pooled it
- Efficacy of a dual task protocol on neurophysiological and clinical outcomes in migraine: a randomized control trial.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024Trial
- The Effect of Hamstring Relaxation Program on Headache, Pressure Pain Threshold, and Range of Motion in Patients with Tension Headache: A Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- Morning Headaches as a Specific Obstructive Sleep Apnea Characteristic in a Large Sleep Clinic Population.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Prevalence, medication use, and health care utilization in pediatric primary headache: a school-based cross-sectional study.The journal of headache and pain · 2026Article
- Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, Menopause and Hormone Replacement Therapy: Clinical Decisions in Times of Uncertainty.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Hypothalamic and sex-related hormones in migraine.The journal of headache and pain · 2026Review
- Trends and age-period-cohort analysis of migraine incidence in China from 1990 to 2021.PloS one · 2026Article
- Is canonical SD a clinically relevant model of migraine? Argument pro.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Review
- Migraine Disease Burden and Trends (1990-2021): A Multidimensional Comparative Analysis of China and Other G20 Countries.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- Association between psychological disorders and migraine in young U.S. adults with gender-specific analysis and marital status considerations.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Article
- Hallmarks of primary headache: part 3 - cluster headache.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Review
- Neural signature of chronic migraine mice model and related photophobia in the primary visual cortex.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Article
- Migraine in men - differences in phenotype and treatment patterns: results from the Migraine in Poland cross-sectional national survey.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Article
- Menopause, Perimenopause, and Migraine: Understanding the Intersections and Implications for Treatment.Neurology and therapy · 2025Review
- Burden of neurological diseases in Asia, from 1990 to 2021 and its predicted level to 2045: a Global Burden of Disease study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The Global Burden of Migraine: A 30-Year Trend Review and Future Projections by Age, Sex, Country, and Region.Pain and therapy · 2025Article
33 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 8 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe three primary headaches, tension-type headache, migraine and cluster headache, occur in both genders, but all seem to have a sex-specific prevalence. These gender differences suggest that both male and female sex hormones could have an influence on the course of primary headaches. This review aims to summarise the most relevant and recent literature on this topic.
methodsTwo independent reviewers searched PUBMED in a systematic manner. Search strings were composed using the terms LH, FSH, progesteron*, estrogen*, DHEA*, prolactin, testosterone, androgen*, headach*, migrain*, "tension type" or cluster. A timeframe was set limiting the search to articles published in the last 20 years, after January 1st 1997.
resultsMigraine tends to follow a classic temporal pattern throughout a woman's life corresponding to the fluctuation of estrogen in the different reproductive stages. The estrogen withdrawal hypothesis forms the basis for most of the assumptions made on this behalf. The role of other hormones as well as the importance of sex hormones in other primary headaches is far less studied.
conclusionThe available literature mainly covers the role of sex hormones in migraine in women. Detailed studies especially in the elderly of both sexes and in cluster headache and tension-type headache are warranted to fully elucidate the role of these hormones in all primary headaches.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.