Erythromelalgia is a rare, often inherited pain syndrome which causes pain and redness of hands and feet. I just saw another woman who had both erythromelalgia and migraines. My observation of several patients who had both diseases does not mean that these conditions are connected since migraines are very common in the general population. However, magnesium is known to help both conditions, so it is possible that there are common underlying causes. In fact, a sodium channel mutation which is responsible for erythromelalgia was also found in a family with familial hemiplegic migraine. Magnesium is involved in the regulation of sodium channels (as well as calcium and potassium channels) in all cells of the body. Most people who are deficient in magnesium and suffer from erythromelalgia and/or migraines respond well to oral magnesium supplementation, but a small percentage requires monthly intravenous infusions. We give intravenous infusions to those patients who do not tolerate oral magnesium (get diarrhea or stomach pains), those who do not absorb it (as evidenced by persistently low RBC magnesium levels) and those who prefer a monthly infusion to taking a daily supplement.
Read MoreMigraine does not cause cognitive impairment, according to a new Danish twin study. This important finding reassures millions of migraine sufferers and confirms our clinical observation.  Another recent study in mice suggested that inducing brain changes similar to what occurs during a migraine attack in humans can cause brain damage. This report was widely circulated in the media and has caused unnecessary anxiety in many migraine sufferers.  Clearly, whatever those mice experienced was not a migraine attack and, more importantly, brains of mice are very different from human brains.Â
The Danish study looked at 139 pairs of twins where one of the twins had migraines and the other one did not. Comparing their cognitive abilities revealed no difference for those who had migraine with or without aura, even after taking into account age, age of onset, duration of migraine history and number of attacks. Presence of aura is thought to indicate a more serious condition with a slight increase in the risk of stroke. However, on one cognitive test, men with migraine with aura did better than their twin without migraines.
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