Researchers estimate that more than 1 billion people worldwide suffer from migraine, a neurological condition that causes severe, chronic headaches, often accompanied by other problems such as nausea and sensitivity to light, according to Medical News Today (MNT).

The number of migraine headaches a person has each month varies depending on their condition and overall health. People with chronic migraines may experience them 15 or more days each month. Migraine headaches also vary in severity and duration, usually lasting between 4 and 72 hours.

Currently, migraine is treated with medication and lifestyle changes to prevent migraine triggers such as stress, poor sleep, certain foods, and environmental factors such as strong smells, loud noises, or bright lights.

"Despite recent advances, there are still unmet needs in migraine treatment, which places a significant burden on patients," said Dr. Simone Braca, a neurologist and clinical researcher at the Headache Center at the University of Naples, Italy.

Bracca is the lead author of a new study presented recently at the Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) 2025, which found that glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist medications used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity may help reduce monthly migraine days by about half.

The study was published in the journal Headache.

Focus on the GLP-1 agonist liraglutide

For this study, researchers recruited 31 participants with obesity and chronic migraine who were given the GLP-1 drug liraglutide. Liraglutide is currently sold under two brand names: Victoza for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and Saxenda for chronic weight management.

"In our country, it was easier to get access to liraglutide compared to other GLP-1 agonists," explained Braca. "In any case, we believe that the observed effect reflects the mechanism of action inherent in targeting the GLP-1 receptor."

Braca said they decided to investigate the potential impact of GLP-1 on migraine based on previous work by their research team, which suspected that impaired intracranial pressure control plays a role in the pathophysiology of migraine.

"Since GLP-1R agonists are known to significantly modulate and reduce intracranial pressure, we hypothesized that these drugs may be effective in migraine," he said.

Nine fewer migraine days per month with GLP-1

At the end of the study, Braca and his team found that study participants taking liraglutide had an average of nine fewer migraine days per month.

"They reported a dramatic reduction in the number of headache days per month, which led to an improvement in their quality of life," Braca said.

In addition, the researchers found that study participants reported a 32-point decrease in their Migraine Disability Assessment Test scores.

"(This) means that they have experienced a dramatic reduction in the burden associated with migraine, which adds a nuanced perspective on the improvement in their quality of life beyond the raw number of headache days," said Braca.

"If confirmed by subsequent larger, multicenter, randomized, controlled studies, GLP-1 agonists may represent a new class of drugs for migraine prevention," he continued. "Furthermore, this would establish intracranial pressure control as one of the mechanisms underlying migraine that can be pharmacologically targeted."

Braca added that they plan to conduct a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, as this is a pilot, exploratory study.

Life-changing discoveries

MNT spoke with Hsinlin Thomas Cheng, senior neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital's Department of Neurology and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, about this study.

"The study helps answer a frequently asked question: whether GLP-1 agonists can reduce the frequency of migraines," Cheng said. "The hypothesis is supported by the fact that there are GLP-1 receptors in the choroid plexus, the structure that produces cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and regulates intracranial pressure, and weight loss is an important part of headache treatment. The use of GLP-1 agonists may have a dual benefit of regulating CSF pressure and controlling weight, thereby reducing the frequency of migraines."

Luis Felipe Tornes, a neurologist and director of the epilepsy program at the Neurological Institute in Miami, part of Baptist Health South Florida, said he was cautiously enthusiastic about the results of this study.

"As a neurologist who treats people with chronic migraine, it was exciting to see that a diabetes drug reduced migraine days by half," Tornes said.

"These patients were struggling with at least 15 days of headaches per month, and after taking the drug for just three months, they had an average of 11 fewer days. That changes the life of someone who lives with almost constant pain. And the effect didn't seem to be due to weight loss — it probably helps by reducing intracranial pressure, which opens up a whole new avenue for migraine treatment," Tornes added.

MNT also spoke with Hao Huang, a neurologist at Hackensack University Medical Center and assistant professor of neurology at Hackensack Meridian Health School of Medicine in New Jersey, about the study. He commented that while the reduction in headache days is impressive, the study is limited and lacks direct measurements of intracranial pressure.

"For the next steps in migraine research and in this particular case, the role of GLP-1 receptor agonists, it would be useful to study a larger group of migraine patients," Huang said.

"It will be interesting to see what this research team discovers in their next study, whether other GLP-1 drugs can have a positive effect on migraine sufferers without the physical discomfort experienced by the participants in the pilot study," he added. |BGNES