Migraine and Long-Term Brain Health: What the Research Does and Doesn't Show

A June 2025 meta-analysis in The Journal of Headache and Pain pooled 11 high-quality cohort studies — 272,765 people with migraine and 6,691,588 without — and found migraine was associated with a higher risk of later dementia overall (about 26% higher) and Alzheimer's disease specifically (about 32% higher). It's a large, recent, credible finding, and also one that's easy to read too fearfully. Here's what it does and doesn't establish.

What it shows

An association at the population level, across a large and carefully pooled dataset. That's real signal, not noise — this isn't one small study.

What it doesn't show