Pains in the Head and Hand Have Apparent Link
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Stockbyte/Thinkstock(DALLAS) — On the surface, carpal tunnel syndrome and migraine headaches don’t seem to be connected but a new study reports that these painful connections are apparently linked.
Dr. Huay-Zong Law of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas says that they actually share a “common systemic or neurological factor.”
Law and his team, after analyzing the data found in a health survey of 26,000 U.S. adults, learned that a third of people with carpal tunnel syndrome, a numbness and weakness of the hand, also complained of debilitating headaches known as migraines.
What’s more, twice as many people with migraines had carpal tunnel syndrome than those who didn’t have migraines.
Delving further into the study, Law discovered that migraines and carpal tunnel syndrome share several risk factors, including obesity, diabetes, smoking and being a woman.
Still, Law cautioned the exact connection between the two conditions is not totally clear.
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