What is the Connection Between Migraines and Air Quality in Cities?
By Beth Rush
Can migraines be caused by poor air quality? Air pollution is common in cities. People living in these areas are constantly exposed to environmental toxins that cause alarming health concerns, including headache disorders. Learn how urban life can increase one’s risk of migraines and tips to minimize their incidence.
What Factors Influence Air Quality in Cities?
Several components contribute to the ever-increasing deterioration of air quality in metropolitan areas. The combination of traffic emissions, construction, and industrial activities all contribute to pollution that puts residents at greater risk of health issues — one of which is the onset of migraines.
Can Migraines be Caused by Poor Air Quality?
The answer is yes. Scientists aren’t exactly certain of the connection between this disorder and air quality decline. However, they suspect several mechanisms behind the event, such as oxidative stress and brain inflammation.
What Types of Pollutants Are Associated With Migraines?
The environment is full of air toxins that degrade well-being and cause throbbing sensations around the head. Here are some of them.
> Fine particulate matter: These invisible particles can come from construction sites, road dust, wildfires, and burning wood.
> Nitrogen dioxide: These pollutants emerge from vehicle exhaust and industrial activities.
> Ozone: It’s a product of traffic pollution in the form of smog.
> Carbon monoxide: This gas comes from cars, trucks, and machinery that burn fossil fuels.
> Lead: Tiny lead particles can stay suspended in the air. Their primary source of emissions are ore and metal processing plants and aircraft that use piston-engine and leaded gasoline.
> Sulfur dioxide: This polluted gas is a byproduct of burning fossil fuels in plants and industrial facilities.
> Volatile organic compounds: These toxins are derived from various household products, such as aerosol sprays, disinfectants, and paints.
Migraine is treatable. It isn’t usually a cause for concern unless it coexists with anxiety, depression, and stress — which it often does. People with this headache condition are three to six times more likely to develop anxiety and mood disorders, elevating the health susceptibility scale of city residents.
How Does Air Pollution Cause Migraine?
While the mechanisms aren’t well understood, the consensus is that air pollution sparks adverse effects on the brain that lead to painful sensations. Experts suspect various factors contributing to it.
1. Neuroinflammation
Contaminants like airborne particulate matter gain access to the nervous system through breathing. After inhaling, they either move to the lungs or the bloodstream. Some pollutants that enter the respiratory tract can stir up an inflammatory response, prompting the release of cytokines — the signaling proteins controlling inflammation.
Cytokines function as chemical messengers that tell the immune system to fight inflammation. While they’re generally useful, the body may experience a countereffect if too many of them exist.
When the inflammatory signal from the cytokines reaches the brain, the microglial cells — the immune cells in the central nervous system — get activated. As a result, they produce even more cytokines and launch other immune responses to contain the threat. However, the flood of cytokines only worsens inflammation. Experts believe this is how migraine attacks happen.
2. Oxidative Stress
Another hypothesis on how migraines are caused by poor air quality is the manifestation of oxidative stress.
Free radicals and antioxidants are two chemicals that constantly interact inside the body. Antioxidants suppress harmful free radicals, which are unstable molecules. Low antioxidant levels cause them to build up in cells and induce oxidative stress, which plays a role in the manifestation of migraine.
The mechanism behind how oxidative stress leads to migraine is similar to how neuroinflammation causes it. Inhaled pollutants stimulate the release of pro-inflammatory substances, consequently increasing free radicals and inducing oxidative stress. One likely result is migraine.
3. Dysfunction of Ion Channels
Ion channels are specialized proteins that control the flow of ions into or out of a cell. They affect many brain processes, such as how cells communicate and respond to certain stimuli, inflammatory signaling, and pain sensation.
These ion channels are also associated with the trigeminovascular system, a major pain-signaling pathway. The brain can become extra sensitive to pain if they’re dysfunctional. This abnormality can lead to headache and migraine.
4. Genetic Susceptibility
Some people can be more vulnerable to the effects of air pollution than others, which experts believe is also the cause of extreme head pain.
Exposure to fine particulate matter may set off the sympathetic nervous system responsible for the fight-and-flight reflex. For people who are genetically weak to respiratory irritants, this disruption can generate pain signals that activate the trigeminovascular system and precipitate migraine.
This headache disorder affects each person differently. Knowing its possible causes can help people understand how to approach treatment.
Tips To Reduce the Onset of Migraine
Protect your health by minimizing contact with pollutants. Here are some tips:
> Switch to electric appliances. Fuel-burning appliances like gas ranges, ovens and space heaters emit pollutants that deteriorate indoor air quality. Some of these are carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter. Contact with these toxins is linked to asthma, respiratory infection, and heart disease.
> Stay indoors if you’re susceptible to these irritants. Outdoor urban air can be too harsh for people with weak respiratory systems.
> Install air purifiers. They help filter impurities and give you fresher air to breathe in.
> Open windows with caution. If you must open the window for ventilation, do it when it’s less polluted, preferably early morning or late night when traffic pollution is minimal.
> Wear a mask when going outside.
Reduce Migraine Attacks by Improving Air Quality
Poor air quality can give rise to migrianes. People living in urban areas are more susceptible to them because of long-term exposure to atmospheric impurities. Minimize your risk by taking protective measures. Follow the tips above.
About the author: Beth Rush is the green wellness editor at Body+Mind, where she covers topics like the power of climate consciousness at all stages of education. You can find Beth on Twitter @bodymindmag. Subscribe to Body+Mind for more posts by Beth!