Genomic Functions – Health News

Posts Tagged ‘Gene’

Researchers have identified three genes associated with migraines and found that people who inherit one of these genes have a risk of ten to fifteen percent higher than the condition.

Migraines, an abnormality in the nerve cell response to stimuli, is characterized by severe headaches and recurrent, often resulting in nausea, as well as sensitivity to light and sounds.

By examining genetic data from more than 23,000 women, including 5.000 who suffered from migraines, the researchers found an association between headaches and variations in three genes: the TRPM8, which has to do with sensitivity to cold and pain; the LRP1, a gene that has to do with the transmission of signals between neurons, and PRDM16.

“Although not yet fully understood to migraines, and its underlying causes are difficult to determine, identify three genetic variants helps to illuminate the biological roots of this common and debilitating condition,” he said in a news release from the Brigham and Women’s, the study’s lead author, Dr. Daniel Chasman, assistant professor in the division of preventive medicine at the hospital and the Faculty of Medicine, Harvard. A migraine expert said the findings are “very exciting.” Read the rest of this entry »

New research shows that having a particular variation in a gene on chromosome 8 may increase the risk of migraines. Although it has long been believed that migraines have a genetic component to detect specific genes has been difficult, the researchers said.

The current study is among the first to identify a specific gene variant associated with increased risk of common types of migraines, such as those with and those without aura, although the relationship with migraine with aura was more intense, the study .

“We have found this relationship mainly with migraines with aura. We need more studies to see how far is this true for other forms of migraine,” said Aarno Palotie, lead study author and chairman of the International Consortium for Genetics of the Headache Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in England. The report appears in the August 29 edition of Nature Genetics.

The researchers conducted a study of genome-wide association for more than 6,000 people who had been diagnosed with migraines and some 50,000 who did not have them, and found that suffering from migraine were more likely to have a variant of chromosome 8 between MTDH and PGCP genes. Read the rest of this entry »