Headache disorders have historically been neglected and under-researched

Migrane 101: data, symptoms, and treatments

Living with migraine, however often the neurological condition attacks, is a journey fraught with pain and isolation. This migraine guide offers insight into the condition, common triggers, possible treatments, personal stories, and tips for managing life with migraine.

What happens to the brain during migraine?

Migraine is a neurological condition that can cause debilitating symptoms across various bodily functions. So, what exactly is happening in the brain during these attacks? This five-minute video briefly overviews the internal machinations behind the painful episodes. An incapacitating headache is a common symptom of migraine, though migraine can occur without any headache.

New drugs called Gepants have been shown to improve the quality of life of many sufferers.

Journalist Eva Wiseman has had migraines since childhood. Beginning with a yawn they segue into visual auras before turning into severe pain. As it so happened, she experienced a migraine during the course of her interview with Dr. Peter Goadsby, a pioneer in understanding and treating migraines as well as getting the world to treat them seriously.

Women's health research continues to be underfunded

Health conditions that affect women more than men get less research funding. This interactive collection of graphs details the gendered gap in health research funding. Of the conditions that affect one sex more than another, those that create the...

Why say 'migraine' instead of 'migraines'?

Language choice can affect people's assumptions and beliefs about the subject at hand, which is why some would prefer "migraine" to be treated as a singular and plural noun. This American Migraine Foundation article examines the logic behind the grammar choice.

What is a migraine attack like?

Are you one of the lucky people who've never experienced a migraine? Take the neurological condition for a whirl in this virtual experience sponsored by Excedrin, a pain relief medication brand. This 360º video is less than two minutes long and shows a snippet of an oncoming migraine suffered by a pastry chef.

86 commonly used drugs, including certain antidepressants, painkillers, and immunosuppressants, have different results for men and women, according to recent research.

What are the phases of migraine?

Migraine attacks don't happen all at once. This interactive walks users through the phases of migraine. Scroll through this visual guide to migraine phases to learn more about migraine, related symptoms, and brain activity.

20% of patients with migraines may also experience vertigo

Vestibular migraine is a common cause of vertigo, affecting approximately 20% of patients with migraine. It's the most common cause of recurrent, sudden-onset vertigo.

The gaps in menopause research and their effects

Nearly all studies (99%) researching the biology of aging don’t consider menopause in their setup. A Harvard professor noted that about 75% of aging-related diseases are likely influenced by menopause. In this article, she discusses how gaps in research are negatively impacting how the medical system can effectively treat aging women. Read her analysis of the issue here.

The overlooked physical causes of insomnia

Persistent lack of sleep is dangerous for anyone, but women are especially unlikely to have their symptoms taken seriously. This article highlights the physical causes of insomnia—a condition often written off as solely psychological—and the importance of early diagnosis. The writer, Courtney Maum, was diagnosed with an anterior nasal valve collapse as the source of her insomnia.

Learn about the point of the physical and emotional experience of pain, which has three broad categories that help determine treatment approaches.

A 40-something science journalist was getting more winded during workouts, and experiencing night sweats, forgetfulness and tiredness—she thought it was perimenopause, but these common symptoms turned out to be signs of her blood cancer.

Almost 80% of people diagnosed with autoimmune diseases are women

Yet it's still unanswered what may account for that difference. To better understand this disparity researchers are exploring factors including hormonal changes that occur around puberty, pregnancy, and menopause, as well as gut microbe differences, and aspects of X-chromosome protein-coding genes. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

Why dizziness is still a mystery

Dizzy spells can completely upend the lives of those suddenly struggling to find their footing. Despite this severe impact, the different flavors of dizziness and their sources continue to elude medical understanding. This article follows a health...

Women are four times as likely to be diagnosed with seasonal depression

This prevalence trend mirrors the broader incidence of depression among women and is well-documented. Researchers suggest the disparity stems from differences in hormones, social role expectations, coping mechanisms, and more. Men may also present with depression differently, and seek help less.

Health problems are being misdiagnosed as perimenopause symptoms

Symptoms of menopause and perimenopause (the premenopause period) can be varied enough that clinicians dismiss them in patients in their mid-30s and onward as just a symptom of hormone level change. In this story, a woman's itching was dismissed as a hormonal change, but after two years and 11 separate doctor consultations, was diagnosed as cancer. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Anxiety is one of the world's most common mental health disorders, causing persistent excessive fear and worry that interferes with daily activities.

MS disproportionately sickens women, but men tend to have worse outcomes

Though the disease is more common in women, men's symptoms progress more quickly, with men more often diagnosed with progressive MS and men's cases typically resulting in more severe symptoms—perhaps due at least partly to more delayed diagnosis—and more severe disability over time.

Vertigo is two to three times more common in women than men

Dizziness, including vertigo, occurs among 15% to 20% of adults. Vertigo can have numerous causes, but generally it's more common with age. It's also much more common among women than in men—occuring roughly two to three times more frequently, sometimes potentially related to the hormonal fluctuations of menopause or to migraines.

Heatstroke treatment guidelines were built almost exclusively on research in men

Protocols for the standard treatment recommendation for heatstroke—whole-body cold water immersion—were built based on studies almost entirely in men. The research wasn't replicated in women, who typically cool faster than men during cold water immersion, raising questions about standard protocol safety for women, due to the risk of overcooling.

HRT for menopause may not help with mental health or sleep says a large 2026 analysis

A recent analysis investigating the effects of menopause and HRT use on mental health, cognition, and brain health suggested HRT did little or nothing to aid with mental health and sleep. But the researchers caution that, among other data gaps, they didn't have information on which HRT formulations were used among their nearly 125,000 participants, so results may have varied by drug treatment.

Menopause affects the brain in complex ways

Lisa Mosconi, a neuroscientist studying the impact of menopause on the brain, explains in this video how menopause directly impacts a woman's brain health and explores why this is an important and often overlooked area in menopause and women's aging healthcare discussions.

1 in 10 US adults are taking medication for depression

A US government report indicates that about 10% of US adults took prescription medication for this disorder in 2023. Women, at 15.3%, were more than twice as likely to take one of these medications than the 7.4% of men.

Autoimmune disorders are one of the top 10 killers of young and middle-aged women

Studies in the US and the UK, though conducted decades ago, have underscored that autoimmune diseases, when grouped together, are a top killer of women.

Minorities are largely underrepresented in medical research, which compromises our understanding of how conditions and treatments may affect various populations, but recent efforts, like the African Ancestry Neuroscience Research Initiative and new genome research studies, are seeking to close that gap.

Females are diagnosed with MS roughly 3 to 4 times more often than males

This PBS documentary traces a filmmaker's personal journey with MS after being diagnosed at age 26. It encompasses both his efforts to stymie the disease's progression and his search for answers about the disease, when, statistically, he seemed at low risk due to his gender, lack of known family risk, and other factors.

Menopause can exacerbate anxiety

Some research shows that menopause can fuel anxiety and also that preexisting anxiety can boost the chances of experiencing other menopause symptoms, including hot flashes, insomnia, and brain fog. But treatments—including hormone replacement therapy, breathing exercises, and other forms of exercise—can alleviate some of these symptoms.

Mental health symptoms may manifest differently across cultures because physical and mental health are imbued with values, beliefs, and traditions.

See how antidepressants—used by roughly 1 in 10 Americans—were discovered.

Menopause and perimenopause symptoms may affect both the mind and the body

Women going through these aging transitions may experience some common physical and mental symptoms to varying degrees, including hot flashes, bladder control issues, brain fog, and vaginal dryness. This article dives into some of the most common symptoms women might expect during perimenopause, plus what they can do to relieve them.

See the global blindness burden by cause and continent.

By 2030, roughly 6% of the world's population will be in menopause

An estimated 25 million women pass through menopause annually, with a projected increase in the number of women in menopause in both lower-resource and higher-income populations in the years ahead, highlighting the social and economic value of focusing on menopause care.

Brain conditions and surgery can cause some individuals to feel no fear

Fear is a survival mechanism that originates in the brain's amygdala, triggering the body's fight-or-flight response. However, in modern society, without the same natural dangers, fear can lead to anxiety and mental health issues when unnecessarily triggered. Understanding individuals without fear may help identify new methods to treat anxiety disorders.

Read a study about racial differences in Lyme disease diagnosis

The research published in September 2025 examined differences in Lyme disease diagnosis among Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries using data from 2016 to 2021. It notes that though US Lyme disease surveillance data indicates more than 90% of diagnosed Lyme cases are among white people, people of color—particularly those who identify as Black or African American—have higher rates of more severe disease of Lyme, with symptoms including arthritis and neurologic impacts.

How menopause affects mental health

Menopause, a natural biological process, occurs in three stages: perimenopause (hormone fluctuations), menopause (end of menstrual cycles), and postmenopause (12 months without menstruation). Hormonal shifts during this time can affect neurotransmitters, increasing the risk of mood disorders.

Someone suffers from a stroke every 40 seconds

Every 40 seconds, someone in the US experiences a stroke—and every minute without treatment destroys millions of brain cells. This explainer breaks down the two main types of strokes, their risk factors, and how early detection could change outcomes in the future.

Less than 1% of aging studies consider menopause and its effects

Nearly all studies researching the biology of aging don't consider menopause in their setup. In part, that's because menopause is difficult to emulate in animal models. Menopause is uncommon in the animal world beyond humans and whales. This presents a problem for medicine and science because about 75% of aging-related diseases are likely influenced by menopause.

Common genetic disorders

As research continues, it's clear that disease and genetics go hand in hand. Here's a selection of 50 National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) articles providing basic information on genetic, orphan, and rare diseases caused by mutations in DNA sequences, whether inherited from parents or brought about by outside factors.

See how anxiety disorder rates vary across 200+ countries, with Portugal, Malta, Brazil, and Iran reporting the highest burdens.

A malaria case in Maryland stumped doctors in 2023—leading to the wrong treatment and underscoring the challenge of physicians being mindful of tropical diseases in our interconnected world.

Explore the biology of pain and why the experience of pain may differ widely from one person to another.

MS Drugs reduce inflammation, helping reduce relapses and slow disease progression

Disease-Modifying Drugs calm the body's inflammatory response to help stave off relapses—when new or existing MS symptoms show up for a day or longer. Avoiding smoking, exercising, reducing stress via mindfulness, checking for vitamin D deficiencies, drinking more water and eating well, all can slow disease progression. [The jury's still out on if HRT around the time of menopause may reduce dementia risk](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhl/article/PIIS2666-7568(25)00122-9/fulltext) Estrogen can reduce inflammation and support neural growth in the brain, and some research has suggested that beginning hormone replacement therapy around menopause—versus later in life—reduces Alzheimer's disease risk. Still, a recent systematic review concluded that taking HRT didn't affect dementia risk, regardless of when women started taking it, so the science remains unsettled.

Skull bone marrow may be playing a key role in chronic pain.

Mental health is much more than the absence of mental illness, according to its official definition from the World Health Organization.

The word allergy is partly derived from the Greek word 'allos' for 'other'

For people with allergies, their immune systems recognize substances as a harmful "other"—cuing an inflammatory response. This podcast explores allergy details and related topics, including how scientists are interested in if the same allergic response mechanisms could underpin other health issues, including severe, painful symptoms around the time of menstrual cycles. Since estrogen acts on white blood cells called mast cells, which leads to the release of histamines—similar to what happens during allergic responses—an understudied question is whether the same process is fueling some of the uncomfortable symptoms around menstruation. An allergist guest notes this raises questions about if antihistamine medications like Pepsid might alleviate them, something that hasn't yet been explored in clinical trials.

The subjectivity of pain means that one person's kidney stones may be another's childbirth, but most sources of pain do have objective, underlying causes.

Why young women experience the most workplace ageism

While one might assume that older women face the most unfair treatment due to age in the workplace, some research from McKinsey & Co. suggests otherwise. The consulting firm found that while ageism impacts older women and men at similar rates, women in their 20s and 30s report much higher instances of ageism than both older women and their young, male colleagues. Learn more from the research here.

Women typically have more robust immune responses than men

This difference helps women better combat infectious diseases, but this more turbo-charged response may also make women more vulnerable to autoimmune diseases by potentially priming their immune systems to overreact to their own cells and tissues and label them as invaders that must be destroyed. Roughly 80% of American women have autoimmune conditions.

35% of polled Americans said they'd view people differently if they knew they had a mental illness.