Unveiled: First gene link to common migraine

Gene detectives on Sunday announced they had found the first inherited link to common types of migraine, a finding that boosts hopes for new drugs to curb this painful and costly disorder.

Scientists from 40 medical centres pored over the genetic profiles of more than 50,000 people, comparing those who suffered badly from migraines with others who were otherwise healthy.

What came up in the net was a tiny but telltale variant of DNA that boosts the risk of getting migraines by around fifth.

"This is the first time we have been able to peer into the genomes of many thousands of people and find genetic clues to understand common migraine," said Aarno Palotie, head of the International Headache Genetics Consortium at Britain's Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, which led the study.

Previous research has found links for some extreme, but mercifully rare, forms of migraine, but this is the first to pinpoint an association for common types of the disease.