Red wine to relieve migraine? Red wine is a well-known trigger of migraine headaches (although French tend to disagree). A recent study published in journal Pain found that resveratrol, the active ingredient in red wine which is responsible for its health benefits, has pain relieving properties when given to rats. There have been no reports in the literature or from my own patients that resveratrol causes headaches and judging from this study, it may in fact help.
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Migraines may be helped by omega-3 fatty acids, a supplement that has gained well deserved popularity. Several recent studies suggesting benefits for the cardiovascular system prompted me to look at the headache literature. An article in Cephalalgia in 2001 by Pradalier and his colleagues concluded that this supplement is ineffective, at least when they looked at the number of headaches in the last 4 weeks of treatment. However, the active treatment with 6 grams of omega-3 fatty acids was significantly better than placebo when they looked at the total number of attacks during the entire 4 months of treatment. Taking into account this finding and considering that omega-3 fatty acids have other benefits while being very safe, it is worth trying to take daily 6 grams of omega-3 fatty acids if you suffer from migraine headaches.
Read MoreMagnesium is effective in preventing migraine headaches according to a new study published in the last issue of journal Magnesium Research. The researchers found that patients treated with magnesium, compared to those treated with placebo, had fewer migraine attacks and the attacks were milder. In addition, magnesium treated patients had improved blood flow in their brains, while those on placebo did not. This is just another confirmation of previous findings of the efficacy of magnesium in the treatment of migraine headaches. Since magnesium is very inexpensive and extremely safe, every patient with migraine headache should be given a trial of magnesium supplementation.
Read More15,056 patients with migraine and tension-type headaches were treated with acupuncture in a largest acupuncture study, which was financed by the German government. Results published in the latest issue of journal Cephalalgia by S. Jena and colleagues indicate that “acupuncture plus routine care in patients with headache was associated with marked clinical improvements compared with routine care alone”. This study should dispel any remaining doubt about the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of headaches.
Read MoreVitamin D deficiency has become a very popular topic in lay and professional literature, and deservedly so. Vitamin D is important not only for bone health, but for normal functioning of many organs. Its deficiency appears to be much more common than it was previously suspected. Dr. Steve Wheeler has found vitamin D deficiency in 42% of 55 patients with chronic migraine headaches. He presented these findings at the recent meeting of the American Headache Society. We do not have evidence that taking vitamin D will help relieve headaches, however if a deficiency is present correcting it can certainly improve overall health of the patient. One possible cause of what appears to be increasing incidence of vitamin D deficiency is widespread use of prescription and over-the-counter antacids. Reducing stomach acidity helps relieve heartburn and other symptoms of reflux, but it may also interfere with absorption of vitamins and minerals.
Read MoreTwo recent studies suggest that music can relieve migraine headache in children and relieve experimentally-induced pain. In a study of 58 children with migraine headaches published in the European Journal of Pain music therapy was compared to a placebo pill and an herbal supplement, butterbur. Both music therapy and butterbur provided significantly better relief than placebo. In the second study published in journal Pain, healthy volunteers were subjected to pain by heating up a spot on their forearms. The volunteers were divided into three groups: a silent control group, a group listening to pleasant music and another group listening to unpleasant music. Those who listened to pleasant music felt less pain than the other two groups. These two studes provide scientific support to the use of music therapy for painful conditions, including migraine headaches.
Read MoreBright light can trigger migraine headaches and many migraine sufferers have increased sensitivity to light during an attack. A recent report has suggested that wearing amber colored lenses (Nike Maxsight) can relieve the light sensitivity. For some of our patients wearing these lenses has allowed them to go outdoors on a sunny day without getting a migraine. A new report in the journal Drug Development Research proposed a theory that each patient might best benefit from an individually selected tint (PSF, or precision spectral filters). The article, Prevention of visual stress and migraine with precision spectral filters presents a convincing argument which should be relatively easy to test. PSF appears to be more easily available in the UK where most of the research has been conducted.
Read MoreGerman researchers showed that acupuncture relieves back pain significantly better than combination of medications, physical therapy and exercise. They enrolled over one thousand patients with chronic back pain in a study that compared traditional Chinese acupuncture (where acupuncture sites selected based on pulse diagnosis and other traditional methods and needles are placed along specific meridians on the body) with sham acupuncture (needle are placed superficially and outside the traditional points) and conventional approach. It turns out that 10-15 sessions of both traditional and sham acupuncture treatments were better than conventional treatment, providing relief in 47.6%, 44.2% and 27.4% of patients respectively. This large study clearly proves the efficacy of acupuncture in back pain, regardless of the acupuncture technique. Similar results have been found in headache patients.Â
Read MoreA recent study by Richard Harris presented at the American Pain Society’s meeting of 18 patients with fibromyalgia showed different brain mechanisms for true and sham acupuncture. It appears that placebo response in sham acupuncture can be differntiated from the true acupuncture response by measuring binding properties of the mu opioid receptor in the brain. This study further confirms the fact that one of the most important mechanisms of action of acupuncture is through the endogenous opioid system and that it is different from the mechanism of the placebo effect.
Read MoreDepression (and anxiety) is 2-3 times more common in those suffering from migraines than in people without migraines. Depression is not caused by migraines because patients who develop depression first are 2-3 times more likely to develop migraines than people without depression. It is likely that abnormalities in the function of certain brain chemicals (serotonin, norepinephrine and other) that cause one condition predispose people to develop the other one as well. Certain types of antidepressants prevent migraine headaches even in patients who have none of the signs of depression. It appears that treatments that work for depression can help with migraines as well. At the NYHC we showed this to be true for an experimental treatment using vagus nerve stimulation. We have always advised our patients that one of the best preventive treatments for migraines is to engage in aerobic exercise for 20-30 minutes five days a week. Possible reasons why this treatment works include relief of stress, improved blood circulation in the brain and the release of endorphins – natural painkilling substances. We did not have scientific studies to prove that we were right, but the majority of patients who followed this advice improved. Now we have a scientific study that indirectly supports this treatment. The study by James Blumenthal and his colleagues, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, included 202 men and women who were diagnosed with major depression. They were randomly assigned to one of four groups: one that worked out in a supervised, group setting three times per week; one that exercised at home; one that took the antidepressant sertraline (Zoloft); and one that took placebo pills. After 16 weeks 47 percent of patients on the antidepressant recovered from depression. The same was true of 45 percent of those in the supervised exercise group and 40% in the home-based exercise group. In the placebo group 31 percent of patients improved.
The bottom line – exercise can help your depression and your migraine headaches.
Read MoreIt is no big news that acupuncture helps migraine patients. Nevertheless, it is good to see yet another study confirming this. Maybe, once the health care mess is straightened out and common sense prevails, the insurance companies will notice all these studies and start paying for acupuncture. The latest study published in the September issue of journal Headache was controlled and randomized, that is it was scientifically sound. The Italian researchers led by Dr. Facco compared true acupuncture with sham acupuncture and no preventive treatment. They found that three and six months after the start of treatment patients in the true acupuncture group did significantly better.
Read MoreA study just published in the British medical journal Lancet reports on the effect of food colorings in children. This study found that food colorings cause symptoms of attention deficit disorder in young children. Many of my patients report that food colorings, and more often food preservatives, trigger their migraines. The role of colorings, preservatives and sugar substitutes in causing migraine headaches has not been evaluated as rigorously as it was done in this Lancet study of children and remains controversial. However, this study clearly indicates that food colorings can have a negative effect on the brain, which makes it very likely that some migraine sufferers may benefit from eliminating colorings (and preservatives and sugar substitutes) from their diets.
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