Abstract

ARREGUI, Alberto et al. Chronic mountain sickness, migraine and depression: Causal or fortuitous coexistence? Possible role of hypoxic environment. Rev Med Hered [online]. 1995, vol.6, n.4, pp.163-167. ISSN 1018-130X.

Objective: To study the association between chronic mountain sickness (CMS), migraine and depression. Material and methods: An epidemiologic study done in September 1990 among 379 adult men with permanent residence en the mining town of Cerro de Pasco (4,300 meters above the sea level), we asked 15 questions associated with depression and 9 questions usually associated with CMS. We calculated depression and CMS scores. Scores two standard deviations above the mean were considered as high scores. Results: The frequency of migraine was 48.3% among men with high CMS scores and 26.5% among those with normal scores (p=0.013). 16.7% of men with high CMS had high depression scores while among men with normal CMS scores only 6.5% had high depression scores (p=0.04). The risk of having a high depression or CMS score was highest among men with migraine when compared to men without headaches. Conversely, the risk of having migraine or a high CMS score was highest among men with high depression scores. Men with migraine with aura, the most frequent type of migraine at high altitude, had a higher frequency of high CMS scores than men with no headaches or other headache types. Conclusions: The results show a more than casual coexistence of the three clinical entities among high altitude men. A common risk factor is the environmental hypoxia which could produce neurochemical changes in the brain that may explain, in part, the symptoms of these syndromes. The data also suggest that many of the subjective symptoms seen in CMS are similar to those occurring in depression. (Rev Med Hered 1995; 6: 163-167).

Keywords : Hypoxia; migraine; depression; high altitude; chronic mountain sickness; comorbidity.

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