The impact of migraine on school performance.

Daniel Kantor, MD WHAT QUESTION DID THE RESEARCHERS IN THIS STUDY ASK? The researchers in this study tackle an often overlooked problem: how migraine headache affects the school performance of children.1 It is bad enough to have migraines as an adult (it may mean missing work, family functions, or social time), but migraines, which often begin in childhood, can have a negative impact on the developing brain during school years. Many studies have shown that doing well in middle and elementary school results in better high school and college performance. Higher education opens up opportunities for a better income and financial quality of life. If migraines make schoolwork harder and lead to worse grades, this can affect future opportunities and brain development. The researchers set out to describe the scope of this problem.