Frequent, unexplained crying in infants, known as colic, may be an early sign of migraine headaches, a new study suggests.
The results show that women with a history of migraine headaches were 2.6 times more likely than those without migraines to have babies with colic.
The findings suggest "migraine genes," or genetic factors that predispose people to migraine headaches, may manifest themselves in early life as colic, said study researcher Dr. Amy Gelfand, a child neurologist at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.
Even if that idea proved to be true, however, researchers would not be able to tell if the incessant crying of colicky babies was due to headache pain or some other type of discomfort.
