Does Harry Potter Have Migraines?

(WebMD)  Harry Potter, the fictional character known worldwide from author J.K. Rowling's books and movies, likely has migraine headaches.

That diagnosis comes from Fred Sheftell, M.D., and colleagues. Sheftell works in Stamford, Conn., at the New England Center for Headache.

Sheftell's team scrutinized all of Rowling's Harry Potter books, looking for references to Potter's headaches.

Harry's migraine headaches happen when the evil Lord Voldemort is nearby, and they strike in the area of Potter's head where he has a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt, note Sheftell and colleagues.

After considering several headache diagnoses, Sheftell's team settled on the diagnosis of "probable migraine." Why "probable"? Because Potter's headaches disappear faster than typical migraines, note the researchers.

Sheftell and colleagues aren't trying to make light of migraine headaches. Instead, they're using Potter's case to build awareness of migraines and other headaches.

"That even a young male Wizard has recurrent disabling headache is a reflection of the wider problem of headache in children and adolescents," the researchers write.

Is their diagnosis correct? The researchers note that migraines may be passed down genetically, but little is known about Potter's birth parents.

Headaches can also be connected to other illnesses, but so far as Sheftell's team knows, Potter is otherwise healthy.

Of course, all that may change when the final Harry Potter book is published later this month. Meanwhile, the details of Potter's diagnosis appear in Headache, the journal of the American Headache Society.


By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang, M.D.
© 2007, WebMD Inc. All rights reserved

[taddles-2009]

Holy ***, of all the innane useless things to waste time and money studying..."does a fictional character suffer from migraines" How utterly pathetic that you would waste the ink to print this drivel.

[emilymhanson]

You know, with things like cancer and AIDS, it strikes me as irresponsible that people are spending money on studies like this. There is already headache medicine out there that can treat migraines, and Harry Potter is a fictional character with headaches linked to a fictional cause (Voldemort). It is not the same thing as a normal migraine.

And besides, there is not a cure for cancer or AIDS or lots of other diseases that people actually die from. If all the time and effort and money that went into frivolous studies went into curing cancer and AIDS, we'd probably have a cure by now.

[blackbug99]

WiccanTexan, I agree and for someone to actually get paid to analyze a fictional character's headaches....Well, gives me one. It's fiction enjoy it with your kids or grandkids. BTW, Star Wars isn't real either.

[wiccantexan]

Oh, dear Gods. It%u2019s a fiction book about people who work with magic. The headaches appear when the villain is nearby. The headaches are a magical warning, since they are linked to the scar. Repeat after me. It%u2019s a fictional book with magical energies abounding. It has nothing to do with genetics. It%u2019s not a health issue. Please focus on real science.