Getting older means increased frailty and susceptibility to some illnesses, but it can also be extremely troublesome to migraine sufferers. Its believed that 8% of the elderly population experience migraines headaches, and elderly women are much more likely to have them more frequently.

Migraines can happen at almost any age, but they tend to show more often at around age forty. The frequency of migraine headaches do decrease after the age of forty for those lucky few.  Many migraine sufferers who suffer with this condition experience a reduction in the frequency and severity of attacks after they reach the age of fifty-five.

With migraine sufferers aged fifty and older, it is somewhat rare and should be investigated thoroughly to rule out the possibility of any secondary causes. A late onset of migraines does not rule out migraine, only one-third of senior headaches are due to secondary conditions, but makes it less likely.

Scientists believe that about two-thirds of migraine victims stop having attacks by the age of sixty-five. They found that patients over sixty-five who still suffer from migraines report decreased severity, frequency and thankfully, duration. It’s also found that they are less likely to experience the stomach acid upset that accompanies migraine headaches in younger patients.

What this means is that migraine sufferers over the age of sixty-five are more susceptible to experience disability because of this horrible affliction.  Most doctors are uncomfortable with treating seniors for migraines because therapeutic methods used on younger people have not been well tested for safety in older patients.

Medications and additional conditions used to treat seniors tend to complicate the problem more severely. Being that some senior patients are much more likely to be on one or more prescription drugs, with each new medication increases their risk of adverse drug reactions. Thus, this bad reaction to the medications needed to stop migraine headaches make some doctors reluctant to offer seniors the pharmaceutical assistance they need.