ByJUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH

JUNE 6, 2026 07:50

Air pollution creates significant challenges for people everywhere.

It causes millions of early deaths as tiny particles reach deep into lungs and enter blood flow, triggering widespread inflammation, harm to organs, breathing and heart problems, plus higher chances of cancer, memory loss, and impacts on developing babies.

Migraines bring severe pulsing pain or throbbing sensations, typically on one side of the head, often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and strong reactions to light or sound that persist for hours or days. When an aura appears with visual disturbances like spots or flashes, the discomfort grows even greater.

This condition ranks as a top source of neurological impairment, yet forecasting attack timing stays difficult, which restricts physicians from offering early intervention with medication at initial symptoms or ongoing preventive options to lessen how often and intensely they strike.

Determining migraine rates proves tricky due to absent diagnostic markers and few sufferers seeking specialist advice. Data indicate roughly 14 percent of the global population, equaling 1.13 billion individuals, experience migraines, placing it sixth among common ailments. Israeli health surveys over time show 6.8 percent to 9.9 percent of adults in the country, or 400,000 to 500,000 people, deal with them.

Pollution and Harsh Weather Connected to Migraines

A recent investigation at Clalit Healthcare Services Soroka University Medical Center with 1,200 beds and Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba reveals that pollution along with severe weather patterns connect to more frequent migraine events.

Featured in the journal Neurology with the heading Acute environmental triggers and intermediate-term modulators of emergency migraine-related health care encounters, the work identified how steady climate factors and short pollution contact influence migraine attack risks.

Dr. Ido Peles from Soroka Clinical Research Center guided the team alongside Prof. Lena Novak of the Negev Institute for Environmental Health Research, Dr. Michal Gordon, BGU Prof. Batya Sarov, and Prof. Gal Ifergan, neurology department head at the hospital since 2012 and a practicing neurologist plus researcher.

Occurrence rates run about three times higher among women than men, with first attacks averaging age 23.2 for females and 25.5 for males, Ifergan noted in discussion with The Jerusalem Post. Episodes commonly begin in the twenties yet may emerge later in life. Women past menopause often report fewer issues, pointing to hormonal influences that elevate risks in younger females.

Participants came from Clalit Health Services coverage, serving around 70 percent of local residents. Air quality and weather information came from Environmental Protection Ministry stations.

Beersheba weather features hot dry summers, gentle winters, and large daily temperature shifts over 24 hours. These sharp changes strongly influence body functions and how pollutants behave.

Earlier research often examined only immediate triggers without considering longer interactions. Migraines arise from combined long-term body traits, medium environmental shifts, and sudden causes.

The Soroka and BGU project examined short and medium environmental effects on migraines using records from 7,032 adult patients in the Beersheba region from 2000 to 2023. It explored daily pollution and weather links to urgent migraine care needs plus specific drug use like triptans, a primary prescription group that stops acute attacks by acting on brain serotonin receptors and reducing vessel swelling to halt pain signals.

In places like California, wildfires generate heavy pollution. In Israel sources include desert dust from abroad plus cars, factories, and shifting climate, Ifergan explained, noting his own mild migraines and family experiences. A biological tendency exists, yet data confirm pollution as a key contributor. Future Paris weather may resemble the Negev, though without widespread air conditioning common in Israel.

Daily pollution warnings exist, so migraine sufferers and those with lung issues like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from smoking, secondhand exposure, work dusts, or fumes should act preventively. Pollution impacts many organs and ties to heart conditions plus mood changes. At-risk individuals should remain inside, though research on masks, humidifiers, filters, trees, or plants lowering risks remains limited, he noted.

Results indicated daily pollution exposure, especially nitrogen dioxide from traffic and fine airborne particles from smoke, industry, or dust, associates with more headaches. Short-term rises in pollution and sunlight linked to greater acute attack risks needing urgent care, while ongoing exposure over periods connected to higher frequency and intensity of migraines.

Outcomes drew from standard clinical and pharmacy records rather than personal headache logs. Episodes were tracked only via care visits, likely capturing more serious cases, yet this offers the sole broad, consistent measure across over two decades, the authors stated. Just 46.7 percent of patients had ever used triptans.

Ifergan and colleagues intend to broaden analysis of gathered information to identify protective elements against migraines, such as building styles like high-rises or houses, proximity to green spaces, and neighborhood types.

Peles noted the environment serves dual purposes, with heat and moisture building sensitivity gradually while sudden pollution spikes act as instant attack triggers. Improved insight into these ties may someday enable forecasting high-risk periods and aid patients in preparing ahead.

Environmental alerts could arrive through messaging services or link into migraine forecast tools, giving patients and doctors useful methods to match treatment plans with exposure patterns, they proposed.

The Environment and Climate Change section appears with support from the Goldman Sonnenfeldt School of Sustainability and Climate Change at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The Jerusalem Post retains full control over editorial choices for the material.