Could a vitamin end your migraine misery?



The research suggests that rather than several causes there is only one cause for migraines

 

FOR eight million British sufferers migraines are a miserable fact of life.

 

They have long been a mystery to doctors, a painful and debilitating condition with so many apparent causes and symptoms that a “one size fits all” treatment seemed an impossibility.

That may no longer be true.

Ground-breaking research shows that, rather than multiple causes for the many symptoms of migraine, there is in fact only one cause: too many free radicals.

 

After examining evidence spanning 14 years, Professor John Borkum, a clinical psychologist at the University of Maine in the United States, has concluded that all the known triggers for migraine are linked to free radicals – the harmful molecules our bodies produce when we process oxygen

Factors such as air pollution, dehydration and hormonal changes can all lead to over-production of free radicals, which in turn leads to a condition known as “oxidative stress”.

Prof Borkum says it is this condition that is a “plausible unifying principle” in the cause of migraine, since it is common to all the external factors indicating an attack is on the way.

It also means that treatment could be as simple as taking a supplement with beta-carotene, which gives carrots their colour and is converted by our bodies into vitamin A, and vitamin C, both of which are efficient at eliminating free radicals.

Prof Borkum studied every one of the 2,000 studies on migraine published between 1990 and 2014. His conclusions, which have yet to be confirmed, have been published in the medical journal Headache.

Prof Borkum’s research led him to believe that a migraine could simply be the result of the body trying to fight off an attack by harmful free radicals. “Understanding migraines may ultimately teach us how we can protect the brain, too,” said Prof Borkum.

While a cure may still be some way off, it is undoubtedly closer than it was. In the meantime, what do we know about this incapacitating illness?

 



Free radicals are the unifying link between all migraine triggers



 

WHAT IS MIGRAINE?

One thing it is not is simply a bad headache. It is a disease of the nervous system manifesting in moderate to severe headaches coupled with nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light, sound and/or smell.

Physical activity usually makes the pain worse. The name is derived from the Greek hemikrania, meaning “half skull” because a migraine headache typically affects one side of the head with a pulsating pain lasting between two and 72 hours.

A migraine can have four phases, although not everyone experiences them all. The first is the “prodrome” phase, the run-up stage when sufferers can experience irritability, euphoria, depression, fatigue, stiff muscles – especially in the neck, food cravings, constipation or diarrhoea and sensitivity to smells or noise.

About 60 per cent of sufferers go through this phase. In the second phase, the “aura” phase, around 99 per cent of sufferers experience flickering vision, starting in the centre of their visual field and zigzagging outwards.

In some, field of vision may be partly lost or blurred. Up to 40 per cent of people experience pins and needles on one side, beginning in the hand and arm and progressing to the nose and mouth, followed by numbness. Some may feel as though the world is spinning and speech, language and motor function may also be affected before the third phase.

This is the “pain” phase, frequently accompanied by nausea, vomiting, fatigue, sweating, blurred vision, a stuffy nose and sensitivity to sight, sound and smell.

The fourth phase, the “postdrome”, can last for several days after the painful headache has gone when sufferers often feel hungover and weak with an upset stomach. Migraine runs in families in about two-thirds of cases and the risk of stroke doubles in those who have migraines and who experience an aura phase.

 



Stress can bring on migrianes



 

WHAT TRIGGERS A MIGRAINE?

The most common factors are stress, hunger, fatigue and hormonal changes. Women are more likely to have migraines around the time of their period and fewer in the second half of pregnancy and after the menopause. Nearly two-thirds of migraine sufferers say the condition is triggered by certain foods.

The chief culprit is the natural compound tyramine, which is found in processed meat, bananas, certain cheeses including Cheddar, blue cheese and Gouda, and alcohol, especially red wine.

Coumarin, which occurs in yeast – and therefore bread and pizza – is another known catalyst of a migraine attack. Other known triggers are the protein casein and compound choline, both found in whole milk and anything made from it.

Monosodium glutamate, found in soy sauce and used as a flavour enhancer although it itself is tasteless, has long been considered a no-no, though the scientific evidence remains inconclusive.

 

Red wine is an especially potent trigger

 

PREVENTION

With no cure for migraine, the goal is to reduce the frequency, severity and duration of attacks. Medication is considered effective if it brings at least a 50 per cent reduction.

Chiropractic manipulation, massage and stress-reduction methods such as cognitive behavioural therapy may also help.

Famous sufferers include tennis star Serena Williams, singer Carly Simon, Elvis Presley, Charles Darwin and actors Ben Affleck, Whoopi Goldberg and Hugh Jackman.

Jackman once missed the chance to meet Tony Blair because he was vomiting during a migraine attack.