Where your DNA places you among other people, and the studies behind it.
Not tailored to your result, and not medical advice
Combine Aerobic And Resistance Exercise: A 2025 network meta-analysis comparing seven exercise types in migraine ranked combined aerobic plus resistance training highest for reducing attack burden (Hedges' g = -1.85), with resistance training alone next (g = -1.45) and yoga smaller but still beneficial (g = -0.35). Aerobic exercise on its own did not reach statistical significance in this analysis, which cuts against how exercise advice for migraine is usually framed. The dose linked to benefit was roughly 300 to 600 MET-minutes per week, equivalent to about 70 to 135 minutes of moderate activity weekly, sustained over 8 to 10 weeks. The authors rated certainty of evidence as low to very low, so this is a signal rather than a settled result. PeerJ (PMC)
Take Disrupted Sleep Seriously: Sleep and migraine run in both directions: disturbed sleep raises the odds of an attack, and attacks in turn fragment sleep. A 2026 systematic review of 23 intervention studies found that approaches aimed at sleep can shift headache burden, though the results were mixed. In one digital cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia study, monthly migraine days fell from 21 to 18.4 among people with very frequent attacks, while an in-person course of the same therapy lowered headache frequency more than control but not by a statistically significant margin. Only 2 of the 23 studies tested sleep-targeted approaches at all, which the reviewers flag as a research gap rather than a settled finding. European Journal of Neurology (PMC)
Do Not Skip Meals: A scoping review of 36 studies found that most report irregular eating and skipped meals, breakfast in particular, as migraine triggers. The proposed mechanism is a fall in available brain glucose that prompts release of cortisol and adrenaline and increases neuronal excitability. In a cross-sectional study of 1,144 university students, disorganised meal timing and fasting were the main predictors of migraine. This evidence is observational, so regular meals are better understood as a low-cost habit worth trying than as a proven preventive. BMC Nutrition (PMC)
Steady Your Caffeine And Alcohol: In a survey of 684 people with migraine, coffee was the most frequently named dietary trigger, ahead of chocolate and foods high in monosodium glutamate. Among alcoholic drinks, wine and especially red wine was the most commonly reported trigger, and participants in one study reported that about two glasses were enough to provoke an attack. The authors are explicit that this evidence is inconsistent and comes mostly from self-report rather than blinded provocation testing. Nutrients (PMC)
Be Skeptical Of Trigger Lists: Weather is one of the most commonly blamed migraine triggers, but a scoping review of 12 studies found the evidence conflicting: six reported an association between ambient temperature and migraine and five found none. Studies using individual-level data tended to find a relationship while population-level analyses often did not, and one study estimated that only about 7% of people with migraine were genuinely temperature sensitive. The reviewers name air pollution, humidity, barometric pressure and geography as confounders that are hard to separate out. This is the honest limit of trigger lists in general: a diary can surface your own patterns, but many widely blamed triggers are neither well evidenced nor within anyone's control. Brain and Behavior (PMC)
How much of this is genetic?
Genetics explains 42% of why people differ in this trait. The rest is environment, daily habits and chance.
Heritability estimate: Twin studies estimate migraine heritability at roughly 40-50%; Mulder et al. 2003, Twin Research
Background and further reading
Migraine is a disabling neurological disorder characterized by recurrent attacks of throbbing head pain, commonly on one side, that typically last from 4 to 72 hours. Attacks are frequently accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and heightened sensitivity to light (photophobia) and sound (phonophobia). About a third of people with migraine experience an aura, usually transient visual disturbances such as flickering lights or blind spots, before or during the headache. Migraine is among the most common neurological conditions worldwide and a leading cause of years lived with disability, affecting roughly one in seven people globally. It is two to three times more common in women than in men, a difference thought to relate in part to hormonal influences.
Genetic Basis: Twin and family studies estimate the heritability of common migraine at around 40 to 50 percent, meaning genetics accounts for a substantial share of who develops the condition. Common migraine is highly polygenic: a large genome-wide association study of more than 100,000 cases identified 123 independent risk loci. Many implicated genes point to two broad biological themes, vascular function and neuronal or ion-channel activity, consistent with migraine's mixed neurovascular mechanism. Well-supported loci include TRPM8 (a cold and pain sensor), LRP1, PRDM16, MEF2D, and TGFBR2. Rare, severe familial forms such as familial hemiplegic migraine are caused by single high-impact mutations in the ion-channel and transporter genes CACNA1A, ATP1A2, and SCN1A, but these monogenic forms are distinct from the common polygenic migraine captured by this score.
Associated and Modifiable Factors: Genetics sets a baseline susceptibility, but attack frequency and severity are shaped by many non-genetic factors. Common triggers reported by people with migraine include stress, irregular or insufficient sleep, skipped meals, dehydration, hormonal changes around menstruation, alcohol, and certain foods, though triggers are highly individual. The calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) pathway has emerged as a central driver of attacks and is the target of several modern preventive and acute therapies. Regular sleep, consistent meals, hydration, stress management, and identifying personal triggers through headache tracking are widely used strategies to reduce attack burden.
The published research behind your score, and the variants it draws on.
3 published scores from 1 study
The migraine score combines 3 polygenic scores drawn from 1 published study.
These traits are influenced by some of the same genes and variants as this one
Content updated August 2026.
ReadYourDNA provides educational interpretation of DNA data you already have. It is not diagnostic, not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Talk to a clinician before acting on any result.
Raw DNA Data Reports for 23andMe & AncestryDNA · About ReadYourDNA · FAQ · Methodology & Science · Pricing · Support and complaints · Legal & Contact · Health Traits · Pharmacogenomics · Carrier Status · Variant Explorer · The Human Karyotype · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service · Accessibility · Consumer Health Data Privacy · Your Privacy Choices · Editorial Standards · Your Data, Checkable · Sample Report · ReadYourDNA and Promethease compared · What is inside a 23andMe raw data file · What is inside an AncestryDNA raw data file · What a chatbot can and cannot do with your raw DNA file · Where a raw DNA file can still be uploaded in 2026
Written, maintained and operated by Martin Pechhacker, sole proprietor, Vienna, Austria. Trade register GISA 40064420. support@readyourdna.com