Over half a million people living with migraine in Wales

Over half a million people may be living with migraine disease in Wales, new statistics have revealed.

Migraine is the third most common health condition in the world, affecting around 1 in 7 people. Its affects can range from debilitating attacks once a month to near permanent chronic pain.

43 million days of work and education are lost due to migraine symptoms in the UK each year, costing the UK economy an estimated £9.2bn annually. Yet, despite its prevalence and impact, migraine remains a poorly understood and under-diagnosed disease.

Statistics

It is not even known exactly how many people live with migraine in Wales. There are no official national statistics on the disease since it is not consistently documented across health boards. To mark Migraine Awareness week, Migraine Cymru Wales, a local support group based in Cardiff, set out to calculate the numbers.

They have estimated that a staggering 562,600 people live with migraine in Wales. The estimates are based on the prevalence of migraine in the whole of the UK from the 2017 Global Burden of Disease study (also used by the Migraine Trust’s 2020 report), and Welsh demographic data from the most recent census. The population was broken down by health board, age and sex, and the likely number of people living with migraine in each group was estimated.

While the global prevalence of migraine is estimated at about 15% (one in seven), the prevalence in Wales is estimated slightly higher at 18%. This is partly due to Wales having more people in higher risk groups – women and slightly older people are more likely to be affected, with the largest group being over 200,000 women between 15 and 49. In Cardiff and the Vale, the prevalence of migraine may be as high as 19% (one in five).

According to various studies, between 1% and 2% of the population suffers chronic migraine, usually defined as having migraine symptoms on more than 15 days in a month. This means there may be over 10,000 people living with chronic migraine in Wales.

Despite this, many people may not be aware that they have migraine. Migraine is often dismissed as ‘just a headache’, but is in fact a complex genetic condition with many possible symptoms including sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, and cognitive difficulties. Seán Roberts, a lecturer at Cardiff University who helped estimate the numbers, said that it took several years to get a clear diagnosis. “I was basically permanently dizzy for four years, and it was affecting my work and life seriously. Doctors couldn’t find a cause. It was only through talking to the people at Migraine Cymru Wales that everything clicked: I have a very specific type of migraine called vestibular migraine.”

However, treatment for migraine is often difficult to access, with only three of the seven health boards in Wales having specialist clinics. Waiting times can be up to 27 weeks, and only half of eligible patients are being offered advanced treatment like CGRP medications. Seán says that he was lucky to find a treatment that worked: “I’m very grateful to be functioning normally now, but I wish there was more awareness of the disease and the treatments that are available.”

Charities such as the Migraine Trust and the National Migraine Centre offer many resources to those living with migraine, and continue to campaign for greater resources and public awareness. Migraine Cymru Wales have an active social media group and meet regularly to discuss the latest developments on treatments and understanding of migraine.