Share on PinterestScientists are looking at the effects of GLP-1 agonists, usually used to treat diabetes and obesity, on migraine symptoms. Hannes P Albert/picture alliance via Getty Images
- Monthly migraine frequency depends on a person’s health and exposure to triggers.
- Currently, migraine is treated through medications and various lifestyle changes.
- A new study says that GLP-1 medications used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity may help cut a person’s monthly migraine days by about half.
Researchers estimate that more than 1 billion people globally live with migraine, a neurological condition causing severe, chronic headaches that are often accompanied by other issues such as nausea and light sensitivity.
The number of migraine headaches a person has each month varies depending on their situation and overall health. Those with chronic migraine can experience them for 15 or more days each month. Migraine headaches also range in severity and length of time, normally lasting anywhere between four to 72 hours.
Currently, migraine is treated through medications and lifestyle changes to help stop migraine triggers from occurring, such as stress, poor sleep, certain foods, and environmental factors like strong smells, loud noises, or bright light.
“Despite new advancements, there is still an unmet need in migraine treatment, imposing a substantial burden on patients,” Simone Braca, MD, a neurology resident and clinical research fellow at the Headache Centre of the University of Naples in Italy, told Medical News Today.
Braca is the lead author of a new study recently presented at the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress 2025 that has found that glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist medications used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity may help cut a person’s monthly migraine days by about half.
The study was published in the journal Headache.
Focusing on the GLP-1 agonist liraglutide
For this study, researchers recruited 31 study participants with both obesity and chronic migraine, who were given the GLP-1 medication 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 have access to liraglutide, compared to other GLP-1 agonists,” Braca explained. “In any case, we think that the observed effect reflects a mechanism of action inherent to targeting the GLP-1 receptor.”
Braca said they decided to study the potential impact of GLP-1s on migraine based on previous work done by their research team, which suspected that a derangement in intracranial pressure control plays a role in the pathophysiology of migraine.
“Since GLP-1R agonists are known to greatly modulate and reduce intracranial pressure, we therefore hypothesized that these drugs could be effective in migraine,” he said.
9 fewer migraine days per month with GLP-1
At the study’s conclusion, Braca and his team found that study participants taking liraglutide had an average of nine fewer migraine days each month.
“They saw their headache days per month drastically reduced, with consequent improvement in their quality of life,” Braca commented.
Additionally, researchers also discovered that study participants experienced a drop in their Migraine Disability Assessment Test scores by 32 points.
“(This) means that they saw their migraine-related burden drastically reduced, adding a nuanced view on their quality of life improvement beyond the raw number of headache days,” Braca said.
“If confirmed by subsequent larger, multicenter, randomized, and controlled studies, GLP-1 agonists may represent a novel class of drugs for migraine prevention,” he continued. “Additionally, this would place intracranial pressure control as one of the mechanisms underlying migraine, a pharmacologically-targetable one.”
Braca added that they plan to conduct a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study as this was a pilot, exploratory study.
Findings that could potentially be life-changing
MNT spoke with Hsinlin Thomas Cheng, MD, PhD, senior neurologist in the Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, about this study.
“The study helps to answer a common question: whether GLP-1 agonists can reduce the frequency of migraines,” Cheng said. “The hypothesis is supported by the facts 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 essential component of headache management. Using GLP-1 agonists may provide dual benefits in regulating CSF pressure and weight control, thereby reducing migraine frequency.”
Luis Felipe Tornes, MD, neurologist and director of the epilepsy program at Miami Neuroscience Institute, part of Baptist Health South Florida, told MNT he was cautiously enthusiastic about this research’s findings.
“As a neurologist who treats people with chronic migraines, seeing a diabetes medication cut migraine days in half was exciting,” Tornes said.
“These patients were dealing with at least 15 headache days a month, and on average, they had 11 fewer days after taking the medication for just three months. That’s life-changing for someone living with near-constant pain. And the effect didn’t seem to be from weight loss — it may be helping by reducing intracranial pressure, which opens up a whole new way to think about treating migraines.”
— Luis Felipe Tornes, MD
MNT also spoke with Hao Huang, MD, a neurologist at Hackensack University Medical Center and assistant professor of Neurology at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine in New Jersey, about this research. He commented that while the reduction in headache days is impressive, the study is small and lacks direct measurement of intracranial pressure.
“For next steps in the research of migraines, and in this particular case, the role of GLP-1-receptor agonists, it would be helpful to see a larger group of migraine patients in studies,” Huang said.
“It’ll be interesting to see what this research team finds in their next study into whether other GLP-1 drugs can positively affect migraine sufferers without the physical discomfort experienced by the participants of the pilot study,” he added.
