Young women with intense migraines that include visual aura—seeing spots, lines or flashing lights during the migraine—may have increased odds of having a stroke, according to a recent study. Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine studied 1,000 African American and white women and found that women who’d had a stroke were 50 percent more likely to have reported a history of migraines with accompanying visual aura. The risk of a stroke was increased further among women with migraines who also smoked and took oral contraceptives.
