Nutritional Program for Headaches

[Guest guest]

Comments?

Misty L. Trepke

http://www..com

 

Nutritional Program for Headaches

by Michael Janson M.D.

 

http://healthy.net/scr/Article.asp?Id=2122

 

When patients come to me for advice about specific medical problems,

they usually have been told that they need medication or surgery, and

they are seeking ways to avoid those treatments. Sometimes they have

already tried medications, which have produced significant side

effects. Usually, they have many treatment alternatives but they

have no information about their choices. One example of effective

alternatives is the reduction in blood pressure that meditation

produces. Others are the dietary changes and exercise programs that

lead to lowered cholesterol. Since the medical treatments for these

two conditions are often more dangerous than the problems, it is

worth seeking safer alternatives.

 

Dr. Dean Ornish has shown that patients with heart disease can often

avoid surgery and reverse their heart disease with a combination of a

 

low-fat diet, meditation, and exercise. Norman Cousins healed his

ankylosing spondylitis (a form of arthritis of the spine) with

laughter and high doses of vitamin C. He wrote about his experience

in the New England Journal of Medicine, and followed this article

with a book, The Anatomy of an Illness. Many patients have cured

their digestive disturbances simply by avoiding certain foods.

 

Over and over, we are seeing the results of lifestyle changes in

health care. A recent scientific medical conference put on by the

American College for Advancement in Medicine was entitled: Lifestyle

Medicine—Medicine for the Nineties. Researchers and physicians both

attended and taught at this scientific meeting. Much of it related to

the role of dietary supplements in medical therapy.

 

Dietary supplements are amongg the safest and most effective choices

in health care. They are almost free of side effects, they are easy

to take, they are relatively inexpensive, and they usually enhance

many life functions besides the specific condition for which they are

being given. Following is an example of how nutritionally oriented

physicians might use supplements as part of the treatment for a

specific health problem. This is a suggestion that is supported in

the medical literature and in the experience of many physicians.

 

Remember this is an example, not a prescription for you, and the

supplement list is in addition to many other health practices. Other

supplements may be helpful, and you may not need all of these to get

results. For more information on any one supplement, look for its

description in Dietary Supplements. No one program is appropriate for

everybody, but these suggestions are good starting points from which

individual programs can be modified.

 

Headaches Treatment Programs

As with fatigue, there are many causes of headaches. The most common

problems are tension or stress-related headaches and migraine

headaches. Assuming there are no brain tumors, hypertension, or

infections, such as meningitis, which can cause acute headaches,

treatment with lifestyle changes and dietary supplements is often

effective.

 

Migraines are called vascular headaches because they result from

blood vessel spasms. There are many triggers that can precipitate

migraine headaches. Common ones are caffeine, alcohol (especially red

wine), chocolate, and sugar. Food allergies can also lead to a

migraine, as can exposure to bright or flickering lights, lack of

sleep or emotional and psychological stress.

 

Most effective programs for headache control, other than drug

treatments, rely on prevention. The pain-killer medications that are

often used to treat migraines (Advil®, Motrin®, ibuprofen—all of

which have the same active ingredient) have actually been shown to

increase the severity and fidyl frequency of the headaches, possibly

through some rebound effect, leading to more use of the medications.

The following supplement program is often effective for the drug-free

management of migraines and may also help the treatment of other

headaches:

 

AM PM

Basic Multiple Formula 3 3

vitamin C 1000 mg 2 2

Pyridoxine 250 mg 1

Magnesium aspartate 200 mg 1 1

Niacin, timed release, 250 mg 1 1

GLA 240 mg (from borage oil) 1

vitamin E 400 IU natural mixed 1

Ginkgo biloba extract 60 mg 1 1

Feverfew 250 mg standardized 1 1

 

=====

Fidyl

Live Simply So That

Others May Simply Live

Yoga-With-Nancy-SoFla/

SignSoFla/

SoFlaVegans/

SoFlaSchools/