Video: Migraine sufferers less likely to get breast cancer

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Good news for women who suffer from migraines. Fred Hutchinson researchers have found that those headaches may significantly reduce your risk for breast cancer.

Jodi Fleming is no stranger to migraines.

"I have suffered from daily headaches for 10 years," said Fleming.

But there may be a silver lining. A preliminary study suggests migraines may reduce a woman's risk for breast cancer by as much as 30 percent.

It all comes down to estrogen.

"When women have a withdrawal in estrogen, that's often a time when migraines occur," said Dr. Christopher Li, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research.

The reverse is true for breast cancer.

"Since we know that estrogen is positively related to breast cancer and migraine is a disease that is associated with lower estrogen, we might in fact expect there to be a reduction in risk and that's what we saw here," said Li.

Li says that doesn't mean migraine sufferers should skip their mammograms, but it does offer hope for the future.

"If we better understand the biology, we can identify new ways of trying to prevent breast cancer," said Li.

Currently there is no known way to prevent breast cancer. The National Cancer Institute funded this research.