Women who suffer from migraines are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease than women who aren't plagued by the severe headaches, and they are more likely to have a stroke, heart attack or to die of heart disease, a study reports.

The report in BMJ is an analysis from the Nurses Health Study II, a Harvard study that tracked 115,541 women ages 25 to 42, from 1989 through June 2011. Women who had migraines were 39 percent more likely to have a heart attack, 62 percent more likely to have a stroke and 73 percent more likely to have other heart problems or to require a procedure like angioplasty. Migraines were also associated with a 37 percent greater risk of dying of heart disease.

Experts said they are hard-pressed to explain the link.

Women leading obesity epidemic

The nation's obesity epidemic continues to grow, led by an alarming increase among women. For the first time, more than 4 in 10 U.S. women are obese, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Obesity rates for men and women in the U.S. had been roughly the same for about a decade. But in recent years, women have surged ahead and now just over 40 percent of women are obese, compared with 35 percent of men.

The rate of obesity in women is also higher than in men across the world, although far lower overall than in the U.S. According to the World Health Organization, 15 percent of women worldwide and 11 percent of men are obese.

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