Best treatment for migraine
The research is clear, food intolerance, allergies, and hypersensitivities are key triggers of headaches and migraines.
Although each migraine sufferer may react to a different food or group of foods, there are a few which seem to pop up as frequent offenders: dairy
(including milk, cheeses, and yogurt), wheat, eggs, soy, corn, citrus, chocolate, coffee, beef, yeast, red wine, and processed foods with additives and preservatives.
In the pursuit to identify these top offenders, scientists and physicians have enlisted the oligoantigenic diet. This is a hypoallergenic “elimination” diet, consisting of a selection of foods that are presumably well tolerated.
During their studies, patients are told to eat only the “safe” foods outlined on their version of the oligonantigenic diet in an effort to eliminate any symptoms.
Once the symptoms have gone into remission, the “high risk” foods are re-introduced into the diet one at a time to assess their potential trigger effect on symptoms.
This type of diet should be undertaken with the assistance of a physician, in order to ensure adequate nutritional intake. In each of the 3 case studies listed below,
some form of an oligoantigenic diet was used:
– 60 migraine patients followed an elimination diet after a 5-day withdrawal from their normal diet.
Upon reintroduction, specific foods elicited migraine reactions in a significant percentage of patients: wheat (78%), oranges (65%),
eggs (45%), tea and coffee (40% each), chocolate and milk (37% each), beef (35%), and corn, cane sugar, and yeast (33% each).
When an average of ten common trigger foods were avoided, there was a dramatic decline in the number of headaches per month and 85% of patients actually became headache-free!
As science would have it, an added benefit was welcomed by the 25% of these patients who also had hypertension – their blood pressure returned to normal levels.
– In a clinical trial 93% of 88 children who suffered frequent and severe migraines recovered on oligoantigentic diets.
Most of the patients responded to several foods, which suggested the probability of an allergic rather than a metabolic cause. An added bonus… abdominal pain, behavior disorder, fits, asthma, and eczema also improved in several of these patients.
– A research study trialed an oligoantigenic diet on 63 children with epilepsy, 45 of which also suffered from migraines, hyperkinetic behavior, or both. The 18 children who had epilepsy alone saw no improvement on the oligoantigenic diet.
However, of the 45 children with additional symptoms, 25 ceased to have seizures and 11 had fewer seizures while on this diet.
Migraines, abdominal pain, and hyperkinetic behavior halted in the 25 children who stopped having seizures, and also in some of those who did not stop having seizures.
Reintroduction of foods one by one confirmed that the seizures, migraines, hyperkinetic activity, and abdominal pain these children were experiencing related to 42 different “trigger” foods.
So why do so many people suffer from migraines and other headaches when they consume these foods? The medical community is getting closer to an answer.
Researchers in Germany have discovered a genetic mutation responsible for the “faulty wiring” and the subsequent pain.
Although clinical scientists have known for a while that migraines are hereditary, the exact “defect” being passed on was previously unknown.
To Eat or Not To Eat: Exclusion Diets for the Migraine Sufferer
Migraine is a chronic illness much like asthma or diabetes, with sufferers ranging from all ages and walks of life, and is more common in women than in men. The term migraine comes from the Greek word hemikrania, or half of the head.
The persistent and distracting pain that sufferers experience has been described as an intense throbbing or pounding on or around the temple and is frequently felt only on one side of the head.
It may last anywhere from about four to seventy-two hours, and it is often so excruciating that sufferers are unable to go through their daily routine largely because simplest of movements can aggravate the pain.
Other symptoms of migraine include nausea, sensitivity to light and noise, facial pallor, cold hands and diarrhea.
Migraines can be triggered by a number of factors. These include lack of sleep, smoking, fasting, bright lights, noise, odors, medication such as birth control pills and certain foods.
In women, migraines can also be triggered by the onset of menstruation, which some medical experts speculate has something to do with fluctuating hormone levels, especially that of estrogen. Others are affected by changes in the weather and humidity.
One of the ways that doctors use to eliminate possible migraine triggers in a patient is to put them on an exclusion diet.
Also known as an elimination diet, it is a systematic removal of specific food items or ingredients from a person’s diet that may possibly be the cause of the symptoms of illness.
It is usually done with the full supervision of a doctor and the guidance of a nutritionist. During the time when the diet is put into effect, a diary is kept by the patient, listing all food intake and the time and date it was ingested.
Patients are also taught to read food labels and limit dining out so that the preparation of food is uncontaminated by the items being eliminated from his or her diet.
To ensure that the patient’s health does not suffer from the deprivation of food items, vitamin supplements and a list of replacement foods can be given to him or her.
Among the most common food items that trigger migraine attacks are cheese; cheesecake; chocolate; citrus fruits; hot dogs; monosodium glutamate (MSG); aspartame; fatty foods; ice cream; caffeine; yogurt; chocolate; cocoa; citrus fruit; berry pie filling or canned berries; banana; beef;
pork; chicken liver; processed meat, such as salami; sauerkraut; smoked, cured or pickled meat or fish; egg plant; fish; shellfish; soy products; spinach; strawberry; tomato, and tomato-based products; yeast and foods containing yeast; pineapple; and alcoholic drinks, especially red wine and beer.
Scientists have suggested that these food items contain certain chemicals called amines, such as tyramine, phenylethylamine, and histamine, which are often found to be the culprit in triggering migraine attacks.
This may be because they are influencing the release of serotonin, causing constriction and dilation of blood vessels, or by directly stimulating areas of the brain.
The exclusion or elimination diet cannot be considered as a cure for migraine attacks. However, the significance of discovering which food items actually trigger these attacks is important to sufferers, because the knowledge can help them prevent attacks from occurring.
Migraine Prevention Is Part Of The Cure
To get reliable, useful and well-presented information about migraine headaches is NOT easy. That’s why when I was lucky enough to find an experienced writer who knew a lot about it, I grabbed the chance to offer his content to you, my valued reader.
The result is this article (and a few others like it) – read it, enjoy, and let me know what you think about it.
Migraine headaches are different then a standard stress or tension headache. You can describe headaches in groups or primary and secondary group types
Headaches are described as being either primary or secondary.
Primary headaches include migraine, cluster headache, chronic daily headache, tension-type headache, and medication overuse headache
Secondary headaches are can be a symptom of something else like a sinus infection or a side effect of an illness or stress.
Migraine being a primary headache would not surprise most people, especially anyone who has ever suffered from one.
A migraine is not just regular headache or is the symptoms always the same as a headache. Moderate to very severe head pain is the most common migraine symptom; there are usually other symptoms that help diagnose frequent hurtful headaches as a migraine.
It is important for you to understand and recognize these symptoms in order to help your doctor diagnose your headache and provide you with proper treatment.
The effectiveness of migraine treatment depends on a variety of factor. Treating migraines with prescriptive medication can be very effective, but don’t count on it.
Many do find relief through the newer medications on the market, but there are plenty who suffer through the trial period without any gain in the end. You may have to try out several medications before you come across the one that finally ends your misery.
Are you finding this article useful? As you read on, you’ll appreciate just how much effort went into researching the very best things on this subject – specially for you. Read on.
Treating migraine through homeopathy is becoming a very popular alternative to medicine-based treatments. Homeopathy is basically a method or theory of healing that attempts to stimulate the body into healing itself by using natural remedies.
Part of a homeopathic treatment is preventing the headache from starting in the first place.
In homeopathic treatments it’s very important to determine what your migraine trigger is. How successful you are in avoiding your, how proactive your are in administering your treatment, the patient is in using treatments such as relaxation or drugs and how well the patient responds to treatment.
All contemporary knowledge about migraines points to chemical reactions in the brain causing blood vessels to constrict and then expand creating a sudden blood flow as the process, which creates the headaches, associated with migraines. Therefore the key to avoiding migraines is limiting exposure to triggers.
An enormous list of triggers has been accumulated through research into migraines. Among the most common triggers to be aware of: Stress, aroma, menstruation, sleep pattern disturbances, climate change, and diet.
A huge amount of scientific research has been processed about the various triggers of migraine headaches and in short, the researchers have come to believe that two primary culprits stand out in the crowd of triggers.
Many researchers have decided that food and food additives are part of the main reasons behind triggering migraines. On the other hand, many researchers are adamant that the primary trigger for migraines is stress.
It’s very important know triggers your migraine so you can determine whether to avoid it or not. Finding trigger by journaling (writing down what you eat and what stresses happen around the time a migraine happens can help in preventing the triggers in the first place.
Modern medical techniques for migraine relief are leaning more toward preventive applications and preventive medications also.
Migraine prevention medicine is different from migraine pain relief medicine. For most people who suffer headaches, migraine prevention medicine is a whole new way to treat their migraines.
Preventive (prophylactic) medications are prescribed for severe headaches that occur more than twice a month, and that significantly interfere with daily activities.
Preventive medications are intended to reduce both the frequency and the severity of the headache and are usually taken daily.
Often doctor prescribed migraine treatments are separated into these categories; migraine prevention medicine and acute migraine pain relief medicine.
Here’s how the two types of medicine differ. Severe migraine pain relief medicine is taken at the start of migraine headache pain.
Migraine prevention medicine is taken daily to help reduce the frequency of migraines, so you can have fewer of them. It does not provide relief from the pain of a migraine in progress.
So whether or not a person suffering from an acute migraine wants homeopathic techniques or medical research and a doctor’s advice finding triggers and preventive measures are both suggested.
What you’ve just read is only the beginning of a fascinating journey into the subject. There are many more useful resources on this site – I invite you to spend some time exploring them and learning even more.
www.migraineheadacheprevention.com – Migraine Headache Prevention
www.articlesforwebsitecontent.com – Articles for Website Content
Vitamin B2 & Migraine Headaches
It is estimated that up to 26 million Americans suffer from Migraine headaches and it is considered one of the top reasons for missed work and loss of production.
A debilitating Migraine headache can last from 4 to 72 hours and can be accompanied by intense pain, extreme sensitivity to light and sound, vertigo, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting.
After affects of a migraine can leave the sufferer drained and without energy accompanied by a low grade headache with oversensitivity to light and sound and can last for another 24 hours.
Most Migraine headaches sufferers cannot identify what triggers the headaches and a long and varied list exists that differs with each individual.
The same factors do not necessarily trigger a Migraine on a consistent basis either. Statistically, women are more prone to Migraines than men with claims that the decline in estrogen during menstruation is the trigger and the onset can begin immediately to a few days delay.
Considered a vascular headache, Migraines start with the enlargement of the temporal artery which is located between the skin and skull at the temple.
This enlargement stretches the nerves that coil around the temporal artery causing these nerves to release chemicals into the system.
A snowball effect takes places since these chemicals cause inflammation and pain which further enlarge the temporal artery and stretching the nerves further.
A Migraine will often activate the sympathetic nervous system which is reported to react to stress and pain. This increased activity affects the intestines causing vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea and contributes to the sensitivity to light and sound.
Due to the inconsistency of triggering factors and the headaches themselves Migraines have been difficult to treat.
Many prescription drugs are available including the controversial and highly expensive use of Botox that is claimed to interrupt the pain pathways but these medications offer treatment and not prevention.
With prevention being the goal it appears that Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) may prevent Migraines in almost 40% of sufferers.
In clinical studies patients taking 400mg of Vitamin B2 daily displayed a 37% decrease in Migraine headaches and a drop in the number of days the headache affected them.
The effects of the increased Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) ingestion begin in as little as 30 days and appear to work best after 3 months and benefited those who suffer from moderate Migraines 3 to 4 times a month.
Vitamin B2 is required for proper cell mitochondria function and when a deficiency occurs it is suggested that this may trigger Migraines in many individuals. This low cost alternative may not work for every Migraine sufferer but to knock out 30% to 40% is a big plus.
Other inroads into preventing this complex interaction of genetic, environmental, and neurological variables include stress release since anger or frustration is being narrowed down as one of the key triggers, again with a delayed action of one to two days.
Wheat, sugar, and some grains are also being held responsible for Migraines but more often this appears to affect individuals with specific blood types other than sufferers in general.
But, diet is quite possibly playing a major role with many avenues that need to be explored.
Another effective therapy may be administering bright light in 30 minute doses every other day, much like treating seasonal disorders, where a clinical reduction in Migraine headaches was reported.
This treatment may sound surprising since Migraines sufferers usually avoid light during the onset of a headache. The bright light is claimed to possibly elevate concentrations of several neurotransmitters, including serotonin, in the brain.
With Migraine headaches costing $18 Billion in drugs, emergency room and doctor visits, time off work and loss of productivity, not to mention the loss of quality lifestyle a cure or prevention may only be a Vitamin B2 supplement away.
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