New genetic analysis has revealed migraine is unlikely to be a direct causal risk factor for glaucoma – despite several observational studies indicating the opposite.
The new study, published in Medicine,1 is clinically relevant because previous literature has been mixed. Some studies have reported that people with migraines have a higher risk of developing glaucoma: one meta-analysis, cited by the authors, concluded migraine was associated with a 24% higher risk of glaucoma. Other studies, however, have “observed entirely opposite results”.
The team from The People’s Hospital of Yubei District of Chongqing, China, used bidirectional Mendelian randomisation (MR) to examine whether migraine causes glaucoma, or whether glaucoma predisposes to migraine.
Independent genetic variants associated with glaucoma and migraine at the genome-wide significance level were selected as instrumental variables.
… study authors said they found “no evidence of a causal relationship with glaucoma and its subtypes (namely angle-closure glaucoma and open-angle glaucoma)”
When migraine and its subtypes (specifically migraine with and without aura) were evaluated as exposure factors, study authors said they found “no evidence of a causal relationship with glaucoma and its subtypes (namely angle-closure glaucoma and open-angle glaucoma)”.
“Subsequently, in the reverse MR analysis, when glaucoma and its subtypes… were assessed as exposure factors, there was no substantial evidence to support a causal relationship with migraine or its subtypes.”
They said the study “highlights the value of genetic approaches in clarifying” causal links as the results indicated that “migraine and glaucoma likely develop via independent pathways”.
Reference
1.Kou Z, Zhang H, Hou X. Migraine is not a risk factor for glaucoma: evidence from a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study. Medicine (Baltimore). 2026;105(26):e49427. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000049427.