Severely obese individuals with migraine headache may have fewer and less intense headaches after losing a significant amount of weight through bariatric surgery, according to results of a small prospective, observational study. "A number of population-based studies have shown that obesity is associated with migraine, but to our knowledge this is the first study to actually show that weight loss is associated with improvements in migraine," first study author Dale S. Bond, PhD, of The Miriam Hospital Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center in Providence, Rhode Island, told Medscape Medical News . Although the study can't prove that weight loss is responsible for the easing of migraine, "we think weight loss is definitely playing a role," Dr. Bond said. He noted that a reduction in inflammation, which is hypothesized to be involved in migraine pathophysiology, might also contribute to this phenomenon. "We also know that inflammatory mediators...