Blood pressure drugs for the prevention of migraine.

Candesartan (Atacand) is a relatively new blood pressure medication in the family of ACE receptor blockers (ARBs), which is also effective in the preventive treatment of migraine headaches. Another ARB, Benicar, or olmesartan has also been shown to be effective in preventing migraine headaches. Propranolol (Inderal), a beta blocker, is one of the oldest preventive drugs for migraines and many doctors often use it first. A recent study by Norwegian doctors compared candesartan with propranolol and placebo. They conducted a triple-blind, double crossover study, with 72 adult patients with episodic or chronic migraine, recruited in an outpatient clinic and through advertisements. Participants underwent three 12-weeks’ treatment periods on either candesartan (Atacand) 16 mg, propranolol slow release (Inderal LA) 160 mg, or placebo. The primary outcome measure was days with migraine headache in a 4 week period. They also looked at days with headache, hours with headache, proportion of responders (50% reduction of migraine days from baseline), and side effects.

Their analysis showed that candesartan and propranolol were equally effective and both were superior to placebo. Both drugs had more side effects than placebo, but side effects were different. The researchers concluded that candesartan should be included in the arsenal of drugs recommended for migraine prevention. The advantage of ARBs, such as Atacand and Benicar, is that unlike beta blockers they do not slow down the heart rate, which can be a problem during exercise. During exercise heart rate increases to deliver more blood to the muscles and lungs, but propranolol prevents this increase in the heart rate, which makes people feel tired, short of breath and not able to exercise as hard as they’d like. This is a significant problem since I recommend regular aerobic exercise as the first and the most important preventive treatment for migraine (and tension-type) headaches.

Art credit: JulieMauskop.com