Braving the Cold, But At What Cost? The Evolutionary Link between Migraine and Response to the Cold

For those of us lucky enough not to experience migraines, it’s difficult to imagine how debilitating they can be. But there’s good news for the one billion migraine sufferers worldwide: human evolution might have a few lessons to provide in the biomedical fight against the disorder.

Too often, we think of evolution as a magic wand that, given enough time, can make all of our problems disappear. This is not the case. For instance, traits we consider “bad” can sometimes hitch a ride along with beneficial traits through the process of selection (one of the tools in evolution’s toolbox).