Why do women get more headaches than men?

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Are you prone to headaches? They cause about 112 million sick days a year in the U.S., and women get more headaches than men.

What’s the reason? Hormones may be to blame, says Johns Hopkins neurologist Nauman Tariq, who is the [ta-REEK] director of the Johns Hopkins Headache Center. Girls and women between puberty and menopause tend to get more headaches than men.
Women’s headaches may be triggered by menstruation, oral contraceptives, pregnancy, lactation and menopause. That’s because headaches can be influenced by changes in estrogen levels.
To see if your menstrual cycle is affecting your headaches, Tariq suggests keeping a calendar to track your symptoms. If you see a pattern, talk to your doctor. You might be able to take medication or hormone therapy to help reduce the headaches.
For more details, check out Headaches and Women: What Do Hormones Have to Do With It? on HopkinsMedicine.org.