A large study has provided some good news for women with migraines – they are no more likely than other women of becoming overweight. “Our study should be reassuring that having migraine is not associated with future increase in relative body weight or obesity,” said researcher Dr. Tobias Kurth, of the French national research institute INSERM and the University of Bordeaux. The study, which looked at women over a period of 13 years also provided data that the average weight gain in both groups was about the same – around 10 pounds. The results were based on approximately 20,000 female health professionals, aged 45 or older. All were normal weight when the study began. About 3,500 of the women had a history of migraines. The severity of the migraines did not seem to carry a risk of weight gain either. Women who had migraines a few times a year had about the same risk of becoming overweight as the women who had weekly to daily migraines. “We do not see convincing data that migraine should be considered a risk factor for the development of obesity,” said Kurth. Reuters Health September 5 2012