Stress Level Tied to Number of Headaches

Yes, it’s true — more stress is linked with more headaches. That’s the conclusion of a study that surveyed more than 5,100 adults. Four times a year for 2 years, they were asked to rate their levels of stress on a scale of 1 to 100. They also were asked about the number of headaches they had each month. Rising stress was linked with an increase in the number of headaches. Researchers wanted to make sure that some factor other than stress did not lead to the increase in headaches. So they adjusted the numbers to account for other factors linked with headaches, such as drinking and smoking. A 10-point increase on the stress scale (1 to 100) was linked with a 6.3% increase in the number of tension headaches. Migraines increased 4.3% for each 10-point increase in stress. The increase was 4% for those with both types of headaches.