Cause of Migraines

Wheat As A Migraine Trigger

Several case studies have linked food intolerance and migraine; this article is one in a series which takes a closer look at some of the foods less commonly suspected when a food sensitivity is thought to be at the root of a migraine problem.

Most people think first of red wine, chocolate and cheese as the most common foods that will cause a migraine. As long ago as 1979 the prestigious Lancet journal published research on migraine and food intolerances, finding wheat to be the most common trigger of migraine(1).

In fact wheat has recently been linked to a flurry of other health problems ranging from fatigue to bloating.

Wheat is a major allergen, with approximately 78% of migraine sufferers being linked to food intolerance, with wheat being identified as the main trigger(1). This may be unrecognized for a long time, because wheat is so prevalent in foods, that cutting it out completely is extremely difficult and involves detailed scrutiny of labels for unsuspected sources. Consult your health professional for detailed advice, failure to do so may otherwise expose yourself to considerable suffering, by unwittingly still consuming wheat-containing food or drinks.

Some maintain that claiming allergy to wheat is an affectation, citing the desire to follow celebrities such as Rachel Weisz who has been public about her wheat intolerance. Many others, however, simply point to the incredible obstacles that face those who would cut wheat and gluten out of their diet, and ask what person would struggle to surmount them if there was no real benefit.

Many migraine sufferers are thought to be suffer from celiac disease, a severe wheat and gluten intolerance that causes serious gastrointestinal problems and fatigue. One of the most frustrating aspects to migraines is the inability to stop them once they gain control, so any form of prevention is always welcome.

In a study done at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome, Italy, researchers discovered a marked improvement in migraines among celiac patients when placed on a gluten free diet, leading some to speculate that a large percentage of migraine patients do in fact have celiac disease(2).

Other links between wheat intolerance and migraines have been studied, and in at least one case, nine out of ten patients experienced relief from headaches; whilst the tenth refused to eliminate gluten from their diet(3).

Some sufferers opt to become vegan in order to improve their diet and remove the foods to which they have a sensitivity. While a significant number of them cease having headaches shortly after beginning a vegan lifestyle, others have a sharp increase in the number and severity of headaches.

The Coeliac society has several forums and many reports of first hand experiences of vegans who discovered they had celiac disease causing various health problems, as many vegans depend on wheat/soy products to replace the protein they would normally gain from meat and dairy. For some people who were consuming a large amount of wheat, to replace proteins and carbohydrates they were missing out on by avoiding dairy and meat, had in fact triggered gluten intolerance. With the the large amounts of gluten eliminated from the diet, the migraines ceased(4).

Based on this information, it appears more than likely that wheat and gluten are responsible for triggering a migraine, subsequently, a trial abstinence period would be an effective way to prove this. (5).

Sources:
(1) Grant ECG, Food, Allergies and Migraine, Lancet, May 5 1979;966-969
(2) Am J Gastroenterol. 2003 Jul;98(7):1674; March edition of American Journal of Gastroenterology.
(3) American Academy of Neurology (2001, February 14); Gluten In The Diet May Be The Cause Of Recurring Headaches; Science Daily.
(4) The Celiac Society, The Gluten-free Vegan
(5) Celiac Disease, A Hidden Epidemic, Peter Green, MD.

Research by Grace-Alexander

By: Joy Healey

Joy Healey qualified in 2000 as a nutritionist at the acknowledged Institute for Optimum Nutrition in London; with her dissertation topic being migraine. Check out://www.natural-migraine-alternatives.com for immediate receipt of an e.book full of further recommendations for natural, alternatives and approaches to treat and prevent migraine. Keep up-to-date with new information on migraine at: natural-migraine-alternatives.blogspot.com

Technorati Tags: Causes of Migraines, Wheat As A Migraine Trigger

Is Chocolate Another Migraine Trigger

Chocolate is considered a common migraine trigger; the connection between this guilty pleasure and the excruciating pain of migraine headaches was investigated during a large study, the results of which were published in the Lancet(1).

Chocolate is one of the few foods which has been investigated in double blind controlled studies, to determine how much of a trigger it really is – unlike many other food products, which have merely been included as part of larger studies using a wide range of possibilities.

These double blind, focused studies seem to leave some ambiguity in the subject. A 1974 study undertaken at the London Hospital apparently concluded that whilst chocolate may be a trigger, it wasn’t a significant one(2). This was a full five years prior to the Lancet study, which ranked chocolate near the top of the list along with other triggers, considered predominantly to cause migraines.

Another study done in 1997 also used a double blind protocol and placebo to try and pinpoint chocolate as an aggressive migraine trigger – again with inconclusive results. The study, carried out at the University of Pittsburgh, Pain Evaluation and Treatment Institute, concluded there was no difference between patients given chocolate and others given the carob placebo in either occurrence or severity of migraines(3).

Of course, one must take into account the overwhelming amount of anecdotal and testimonial evidence from hundreds of thousands of migraine sufferers who report chocolate as a trigger. Many of these claim that removing it from their diet caused instant cessation – whereas accidental or careless reintroduction caused just as immediate recurrence of symptoms.

There is one as of yet formally unpublished study, on which correspondence exists – a trial on 20 patients who believed migraine to be a trigger were challenged with either chocolate or a placebo. The 8 receiving the placebo had no incidence of migraine – five out of the 12 who received chocolate did have a typical migraine attack. The small number of people in the test group meant that the subsequent results were not completely conclusive.

As is so often the case with food intolerances, what one person can eat without an ill-effects, can create an unpleasant or even harmful reaction in another. Consider the simple peanut – a killer for some, a harmless snack for another.

Obviously scientific studies are interesting and essential, but however much we crave it, chocolate is something we can live without. The most effective method to discover if it’s a trigger food for the individual, is to cut it out from their diet for a few weeks. If your migraines are bad enough, it’s a simple sacrifice to make.

(1) Grant ECG; Food, Allergies and Migraine; Lancet, May 5 1979;966-969

(2) A. M. Moffett, M. Swash, and D. F. Scott – Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1974 April

(3) Marcus DA, Scharff L, Turk D, Gourley LM – Cephalalgia 1997 Dec; 17(8):855-62

(4) CM Gibb, V Glover, M Sandler, Bernhard Baron Memorial Research Laboratories

Research by Grace-Alexander

By: Joy Healey

Joy Healey qualified in 2000 as a nutritionist at the acknowledged Institute for Optimum Nutrition in London; with her dissertation topic being migraine. Check out: www.natural-migraine-alternatives.com for immediate receipt of an e.book full of further recommendations for natural, alternatives and approaches to treat and prevent migraine. Keep up-to-date with new information on migraine at: natural-migraine-alternatives.blogspot.com

Technorati Tags: migraine headache, migraine headache and chocolate, migraine headache triggers

Migraine Acupuncture research

Researchers in Denmark recently demonstrated that acupuncture offers significant benefits for migraine sufferers. The researchers monitored 85 patients with a history of migraine in a randomised, double-blind study in which acupuncture treatment (dry needling to acupoints in the neck) was compared to the drug metoprolol in the prevention of migraine attacks. All of the patients, investigators and statisticians were blinded as to treatment, and the therapist was blinded as to results.

The study took place at an outpatient pain clinic in the northern Copenhagen area and the patients who participated in the study were either referred by their general practitioners or had responded to newspaper advertisements. Certain patients were excluded from the study; those who were pregnant or had previous experience with acupuncture or beta-blocking agents, those with chronic pain syndromes, and those with known contraindications to treatment with beta blockers. The patients were then allocated to one of two groups: the first group were given a 17-week regimen with acupuncture and placebo tablets and the second group were given placebo acupuncture stimulation and 100 mg of metoprolol daily.

The results revealed that both groups exhibited significant reduction in frequency of migraine attacks and there was no difference found between the two groups of patients in the average frequency or duration of migraine attacks. However the severity of the attacks was found to be lower in the metoprolol group but this was also accompanied by a range of adverse side effects. The researchers therefore concluded that acupuncture offers " a valuable supplement to the list of migraine prophylactic tools" being equipotent to metoprolol in the influence on frequency and duration (but not severity) of attacks, and superior in terms of negative side-effects.

There is no doubt that this study provides additional weight to the argument that acupuncture should be more fully integrated into western medicine, at the very least as a complementary tool for pain control. However it should be noted that the study, like many others, attempts to define acupuncture treatment in western medical terms, with standardised treatment being administered to every patient in the treatment group without consideration to the specific needs of the individual patient or the more complex systems and meridians (flows of energy) upon which oriental medicine is based. It would be more helpful and certainly increase our understanding of the true benefits of acupuncture treatment if researchers would give thought to the oriental approach to medicine when devising research studies and allow qualified acupuncturists the opportunity to treat each indivdual according to their diagnoses. As in all other forms of holistic therapies, treatment cannot be standardised for every patient because the cause of the problem may differ in each individual case.

Courtesy of Hesse J; Mogelvang B; Simonsen H. Acupuncture versus metoprolol in migraine prophylaxis: a randomized trial of trigger point inactivation. Pain Clinic and Medical Department, Skodsborg Sanatorium, Denmark. Journal of International Medicine (ENGLAND) May 1994, 235 (5) p451-6

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