Migraine gene found, may lead to treatment

NEW YORK — Scientists have identified a gene that causes a rare form of migraine headaches and may play a role in more common types.

Some 23 million Americans get migraines. Scientist have long known that genes play a major role, but the genes themselves have been elusive.

The new finding offers a clue to exactly what causes migraines in general. Studying that question might eventually lead to new treatments.

The gene discovery will be reported Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Headache. Dr. Michel Ferrari of the University of Leiden Medical Center in Leiden, the Netherlands, who will present the work, spoke Friday in an interview.

The gene tells the body how to make part of a gate that controls the flow of calcium into some brain cells.

Researchers found that the gene was flawed in patients with a very rare form of migraine. In this form, people get paralyzed or very weak on one side of their bodies before the headache begins.

In addition, the scientists found statistical evidence that the same gene, when flawed, plays some role in susceptibility to more common kinds of migraines.