Obese people are more likely to suffer from more frequent and severe migraine headaches. The question that remained unanswered was whether losing weight helps relieve headaches. A new study just published in the leading neurology journal, Neurology suggests that this may be the case. Researchers from Brown University in Providence, RI examined 24 severely obese patients before and after bariatric (weight reduction) surgery. Their mean body mass index (BMI) was 46 and their mean age was 39. A direct correlation between the amount of weight loss and the reduction in the number of headache days was observed. Weight loss was also associate with reduced disability. This study gives scientific support to the idea that weight loss may improve migraine headaches.
Read MoreMelatonin does not seem to be effective for the prevention of migraine headaches, according to a study published in Neurology. The researchers from Norway gave 2 mg of extended release melatonin every night for 8 weeks to 46 migraine sufferers. All 46 received also received 8 weeks of placebo and neither the doctors nor the patients knew whether the first treatment was with melatonin or placebo (so called double-blind crossover trial). Migraine frequency did improve from an average of 4.2 a month to 2.8, but the same results were observed while on melatonin as on placebo. This study confirms a well established observation that taking a placebo helps, or perhaps that what helps is just keeping track of your headaches and seeing a medical provider on a regular basis.
One argument against the validity of the study is that the dose of melatonin might have been too low because one small trial of 10 mg of melatonin in cluster headache sufferers did show benefit. Another possibility is that the dose was too high. There is a study that suggests that taking 0.3 mg (or 300 mcg) helps insomnia, while 3 mg does not. Anecdotally, I find that for me and many of my patients 0.3 mg works better for insomnia and jet lag than 3 mg.
Migraine and migraine medications do not appear to cause cognitive decline, according to a Dutch study just published in Headache. After 6 years of follow-up there was no difference between those who suffered from migraines and healthy controls. Taking migraine medications also did not have an effect on cognitive function. This is very reassuring, especially because a recent study in rats suggested brain damage from what the researchers felt was a process similar to migraine.
Read More74% of girls and 52% of boys have headaches at age 17, according to a Finnish study of 6,262 twins. At age 11, 60% of girls and 59% of boys had headaches at least once a month. The prevalence of weekly headaches increase d in girls from 16% to 25% between ages 11 and 14. Headaches in kids is a major problem, but unfortunately it does not receive proper attention. Sometimes parents do not believe that their child has a headache or if they do, they are reluctant to take the child to a doctor because they don’t want to resort to prescription medications. Fortunately, many non-drug approaches are very effective in kids. Regular sleep schedule (very hard to enforce in teenagers), regular meals, frequent aerobic exercise, biofeedback or meditation, and supplements can be very effective. Several studies have shown that kids with headaches are often deficient in magnesium, riboflavin (vitamin B2), and Co-enzyme Q10 (CoQ10). If a child still has headaches, a medications may also be appropriate.
Read MoreVitamin D deficiency is often found in patients with headaches and neuralgia, which I’ve already mentioned in previous posts. Chronic pain patients with low vitamin D levels were also found to have poor exercise tolerance, making their rehabilitation more difficult. Now, there is strong evidence from two independent studies, which involved over one thousand people, that those with low vitamin D levels were twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, other types of dementia, and strokes. The researchers and those commenting on this research called for more studies before any recommendations can be made. This response of the medical establishment is typical in its lack of common sense. Yes, there are dangers in taking too much vitamin D, but shouldn’t they call for doctors to test for this deficiency and correct it when it is present? Even if we don’t know exactly if this supplementation will prevent strokes, Alzheimer’s or headaches, it makes sense to keep everyone’s level in the middle of the normal range.
Read MoreMigraines in blind people are made worse by light, according to Dr. Burstein and his associates at Harvard. Rami Burstein is one of the leading headache researchers who often asks questions no one else thought to ask. More importantly, he often finds the answers. When he mentioned to me that he wants to find out why bright light makes headaches worse (so called photophobia), I immediately thought of a blind patient I was treating. She was very interested in helping Rami discover the answer and helped him recruit many other blind migraine sufferers. After several years of work, his finding were published today in Nature Neuroscience. A recent discovery showed that in addition to rods and cones in the retina (cells that allow us to see), there are cells which react to light, but their input goes to non-visual parts of the brain. These cells regulate sleep-wake cycle and, according to Rami Burstein’s research, also magnify pain perception in headache patients.
Read MoreThe fact that two out of three pregnant women stop having headaches during pregnancy is well established, however a study by Norwegian researchers published in Headache provides some additional details. Women with headaches who are pregnant for the first time tend to have fewer headaches than non-pregnant women or women during subsequent pregnancies. This is especially true in the third trimester. Non-pregnant women who had never been pregnant were less likely to have headaches than women who had been. If a woman does have headaches during pregnancy, the initial treatment should consist of non-drug therapies, such as biofeedback or meditation, magnesium and other supplements, acupuncture, and if headaches are frequent, Botox injections.
Read MoreChildhood abuse or neglect was reported by 58% of 1,348 migraine sufferers according to a study published in the current issue of Headache. Emotional abuse and neglect was particularly common. Patients with other chronic pain conditions also have high incidence of emotional, sexual, and physical abuse. Migraine patients who suffered abuse are also more likely to have anxiety and depression. We do not know what physiological mechanisms that are triggered by abuse lead to chronic pain. This and similar studies suggest that greater attention should be directed at the psychological factors that contribute to migraine headaches. One possible negative outcome of this study is that some physicians, who may already consider migraine to be a purely psychological disorder, will be even more inclined to avoid treating migraine as a biological disease. In practice, it means that these doctors will be even more reluctant to prescribe appropriate acute migraine medications, such as triptans (Imitrex and other). Migraine is clearly a biological disorder with documented genetic predisposition and should be treated as such. At the same time, we know that psychological factors play a major contributing role and should be also addressed when treating headache and pain patients.
Read MoreAcupuncture increases connections between different areas of the brain, according to Dhond and other Korean researchers who published their findings in the journal Pain. They compared the effect of true and sham acupuncture in healthy volunteers using functional MRI of the brain. They discovered that true acupuncture (insertion of one needle into the forearm) enhanced the “spacial extent of resting brain networks to include anti-nociceptive (pain-relieving), memory, and affective (responsible for emotions) brain regions”. The researchers felt that this enhancement of connections between various parts of the brain is probably responsible for the pain relief induced by acupuncture. After the recent German study of acupuncture for headaches which involved over 15,000 patients there is little doubt that acupuncture works for headaches (and many other pain conditions), but this study helps provide stronger scientific evidence that the relief is not due to placebo.
Read MoreAlcohol can trigger a headache immediately or soon after it is consumed or the next morning. Some people develop a headache only from a particular type of alcohol, such as red wine, rum, or beer, while others cannot drink any form of alcohol without getting a headache. It seems that vodka is least likely to cause a headache, because it is possible that it is not alcohol that is causing headaches, but rather preservatives, such as sulfites, fermentation products, and natural colors. Some people are exquisitely sensitive – a small sip of wine can trigger a headache within minutes, and some can drink two glasses of wine without a headache, while the third glass will always result in a headache. If you’ve found a medicine that works for your headaches, have it handy since the sooner you take it the better it will work. However, check with your doctor to see if your medicine can be taken with alcohol (none of them should be mixed with alcohol, but some are more dangerous than other). Headaches that occur the day after drinking are usually due to overindulgence and are thought to be in part due to dehydration and in part due to magnesium depletion by alcohol.
Read MoreMigralex is finally available to all headache sufferers. This is the first new brand of headache medicine in 15 years. After years of painstaking research, complicated development work, and manufacturing setup it is very gratifying to see Migralex available at www.Migralex.com and independent pharmacies. If you know someone who suffers from headaches, please tell them about Dr. Mauskop’s Migralex. Migralex works quickly, has few side effects, and works for many different types of headaches. Please go to www.Migralex.com for more information.
Read MoreHoliday headaches are quite avoidable, but to avoid them you have to have willpower. I know myself that it is hard to resist all the chocolate that surrounds you during the holidays. If you have a choice, pick milk chocolate over dark. There is no scientific proof, but in my case I find that the higher the cocoa content the more likely I will get a headache. Of course I, like many other chocoholics do not consider milk chocolate real chocolate and don’t bother eating it. For the most part I stay away from chocolate altogether because it is addictive – once you start eating it, it is hard to stop. My headaches do respond to medication and when I do eat chocolate I make sure to have it handy. Another way to avoid headaches from chocolate, or for that matter any other trigger, is to avoid having more than one trigger at a time. That is if you want to have some chocolate do not also drink wine or do not eat chocolate if you did not get enough sleep.
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