HEALTH: Migraines & Headaches

[Guest guest]

Migraines & Headaches

 

" Pain dies quickly, and lets her weary prisoners go; the fiercest

agonies have shortest reign. "

William Cullen Bryant

 

 

A headache by other name is just as painful. Why the differentiation

between migraines and headaches? Confusion abounds as to when the pain

is a migraine, a cluster headache or what's termed a " tension " headache.

 

Recently, a television news show did a segment on migraines. The

commercials, lead-ins and the interview itself showed a young man on the

floor repeatedly banging his head against the wall. He hit his head so

hard you had to wince watching him. He said the pain was so bad he

sought something that would hurt more just to distract him from it.

After years of daily torture, he contemplated suicide as an escape.

The show's journalists said it was a migraine. Joel Saper, in Ann Arbor,

Michigan, would probably consider it a cluster headache. In an article

in World Health News, Dr. Saper said that men with cluster headaches

tend to pace and cry out and often bang their heads and hands against

walls, and throw things. Whereas people with migraines seek dark, quiet,

cool rooms and reduce stimulation, whether it be from sound or light or

smell. 1

 

A migraine is a headache that usually last hours to days, whereas a

cluster headache usually lasts a half-hour to two hours. Migraines

generally occur in women more than men, whereas cluster headaches

generally affect more men. Cluster headaches are almost always around an

eye with a runny nose, tears and sometimes eyelid drooping. If a

headache is severe, if it is associated with severe nausea or vomiting,

and is unilateral and throbbing, then it's more likely to be migraine.

Because of the symptom similarities: presence of throbbing and pain on

one side of the head, some researchers believe that the tension-type

headache is a milder version of a migraine. Both can be associated with

nausea, both can occur on one of both sides of the head, have moderate

pain and be non-throbbing. So at times it's difficult to differentiate

between them.

 

All sorts of alarms go off when a migraine is imminent. Hands get cold

to icy; lights flash, like zig zags of lightening; blind spots;

tingling, numbness, or weakness on one side of the face or body; changes

in emotion, mood and appetite that occur a day or two before the pain

and for some, the " aura. " Ten to 20 percent of people with migraines

experience the mysterious " aura, " which are eye-widening symptoms that

occur just before the pain starts. 2 Some researchers have come to

believe that the aura occurs as a result of a deficiency of magnesium in

the cortex of the brain. 3 This is not a surprising revelation when you

realize the importance of magnesium to blood circulation, and further,

that these aura symptoms are similar to those which occur just before a

stroke.

 

 

Migraines Often Caused by Chemicalized Food

 

There is a lot of evidence that migraine pain is caused by certain foods

and chemicals. A double-blind study reported in the The Lancet found

that 94 percent of a group of 88 children with severe, frequent

migraines were relieved of their pain after eliminating foods to which

they were allergic. 4

 

Seymour Solomon, M.D., director of the Headache Unit at Montefiore

Medical Center and professor of neurology, Albert Einstein College of

Medicine in Bronx, N.Y., believes that about 20 percent of people with

migraines are sensitive to chemicals in certain foods, such as

monosodium glutamate (MSG) and nitrites in hot dogs and sausages. 5

 

Tartrazine (FD & C Yellow No. 5), a common food coloring (read the

labels1) has a history of provoking allergic headaches. 6 It is

estimated that 90 percent of all migraine headaches are directly linked

to food allergies or to reactions caused by additives, particularly

certain preservatives and colorings, caffeine and chocolate. 7

 

All processed foods, whether bottled, bagged, canned or packaged have

hidden dangers. MSG is only one of the identified dangers hidden in the

plethora of chemicals contained in processed food. A very goof friend of

mine has migraines for days after ingesting MSG. Unfortunately, he eats

out often, and forgets to ask the waitress to " hold the MSG. "

 

According to the FDA, approximately five thousand food additives are

used in food products in the United States. 8 As the chemicals in our

supermarkets grow, so do reported cases of migraines. The Center for

Disease Control and the National Center for Health Statistics conducted

personal interviews over a 10 year period with between 60,000 to 125,000

people. They found that between 1980 and 1989 the prevalence of chronic

migraine headache sufferers increased nearly 60 percent from almost 26

to 41 individuals per 1,000 people. Tragically, 71 percent of the

increase occurred among individuals less than 45 years of age.

Interestingly, and indicative of the possibility of it being a

mineral-deficiency, migraine sufferers was in the Western United States

(45 per 1,00 persons), while in the South and Midwest the rate of

migraine headaches was 41 and 40.4 per 1,000 persons respectively. The

lowest rate was in the northeast and almost 37 per 1,000. 9

 

One of the reasons MSG gets such a headstrongreaction is that it

contains a chemical known as tyramine. Tyramine dilates blood vessels in

the head, causing the pressure dredged with the pain of migraines. If

you suspect a food reaction is causing your migraines, consider the

possibility that one of these tyramine-foods could be the culprit:

cheeses, bananas, chocolate, yogurt, bean curry, pickled fish, citrus

fruit, red wine, beer, fermented sausage, brewer's yeast, fava beans,

soy sauce, MSG, Chinese broad bean pods, coffee, licorice, and snails.

 

 

Magnesium for Migraines

 

Numerous studies have shown the connection between low blood levels of

magnesium and migraines. Researchers at the prestigious Interuniversity

Center For the Study of Headache and Neurotransmitter Disorders in

Perugia, Italy, examined 90 adult migraine and tension headache patients

comparing them with a control group. They found migraine sufferers, with

and without aura and tension-type headaches, had significantly lower

levels of magnesium between attacks, and even less during a migraine.

The authors also note that it is probably more than coincidence that

subjects with epilepsy or mitral valve prolapse have a higher incidence

of headaches and also have low serum magnesium levels. 10

 

Magnesium is a minerals essential for brain function, and also regulates

a deficiency of magnesium in about 40 percent of migraine patients.

Robert S. Kunkel, M.D., director of the Headache Clinic, Cleveland,

Ohio, knows of physicians who manage acute migraine headaches with

magnesium. 11 In another study, 35 out of 40 people suffering from

frequent migraines given one gram of intravenous magnesium at the start

of their headaches experienced a complete reduction in head pain. Almost

none suffered any more pain recurrence over the next 24 hours. 12

 

 

Beat It with B Vitamins

 

The B vitamins are notorious bran booster. Anything that affects the

brain depletes B vitamins. Two B vitamins: riboflavin (B-2) and niacin

(B-3) help alleviate the pain of migraines.

 

A doctor in New York, Jeffrey A. Hall, D.O., reports that he has

successfully treated his own migraine headaches for the last 15 years

with doses of niacin. At the onset of his aura he takes 300 to 500

milligrams of niacin. Niacin is also used to reduce blood pressure as it

dilates and opens constricted blood vessels, with the only side effect

being menopausal-like like hot flashes from too much niacin at one time.

When takes 250 to 500 mg. of niacin, use Flush-Free niacin.

 

Belgium researchers split 40 migraine sufferers into two groups: 26 took

400 mg. of riboflavin daily before breakfast for three months and the

rest took the B2 and 75 mg of aspirin. All of the study participants

were relieved to find that the severity of their head pain was reduced

by nearly 70 percent. In all probability, the aspirin made no

difference, except to the one participant who dropped out because of

stomach problems. 15 I recommend migraine patients take 250 milligrams

of B2 twice daily.

 

 

Other Natural Ingredients for Migraines and Headache are:

 

Feverfew and White Willow: Feverfew is a wild herb that has been used

for more than 2,000 years as a remedy for headaches. White Willow Bark

contains salicin which may be beneficial as a pain reliever and

anti-inflammatory. Key accessory nutrients are also added for a

synergistic pain relief effect.

 

 

Migraine Relieving Nutrients

 

For maximum absorption, take supplements with meals.

 

Nutrient Suggested Dosage

 

Antioxidants (grape seed) 4 capsules daily

 

Borage Oil 2 capsules daily

 

Flaxseed Oil 1 tablespoon with meals

 

Ginkgo biloba 1 three times daily

 

Magnesium 1 capsule daily

 

Multi-Mineral Liquid 3-4 ounces daily

 

Multi-Vitamin/Mineral 2-3 ounces daily

 

Niacin (Flush-Free) 500 mg daily

 

Vitamin B2 250 mg twice daily

 

Vitamin E d-alpha tocopherol 2 capsules (800 IU) daily

 

 

References:

 

1. Faivelson, Saealie, " Breaking he cycle of Pain: Experts' Views of

Migraines Have Changed Radically, Yet Some Physicians Still Undertreat

ot Mistreat the Excruciating Headaches, " Medical World News, v. 34, n.

12, p. 22, December 15, 1993

2. " Migraines: Easing the Pain, " Consumer Reports on Health, v. 5, n. 7,

p. 72, July 1993.

3. Faivelson, Saealie, " Breaking he cycle of Pain: Experts' Views of

Migraines Have Changed Radically, Yet Some Physicians Still Undertreat

ot Mistreat the Excruciating Headaches, " Medical World News, v. 34, n.

12, p. 22, December 15, 1993

4. Egger, J., et al, :Is Migraine Food Allergy? " The Lancet, v. 2, p.

865-869, 1983.

5. Faivelson, Saealie, " Breaking he cycle of Pain: Experts' Views of

Migraines Have Changed Radically, Yet Some Physicians Still Undertreat

ot Mistreat the Excruciating Headaches, " Medical World News, v. 34, n.

12, p. 22, December 15, 1993.

6. Faelton, Sharon, The Allergy Self-Help Book, Rodale Press, Emmaus,

PA, p.036-307.

7. Burton Goldberg Group, Alternative Medicine, The Definitive Guide,

Future Medicine Publishing, Inc., Puyallup, WA, 1993.

8. " More Than You Ever Thought You Would Know About Food Additives, " FDA

Consumer, 1982.

9. " Prevalence of Chronic Migraine Headaches - United States, 1980-1989,

" Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, v. 40, n. 20, p. 337-338, May

24, 1991.

10. Sarchielli, Paola, et al, " Serum and Salivary Magnesium Levels in

Migraine and Tension-Type Headache: Results in a Group of Adult

Patients, " Cephalalgia, v. 12, p. 21-27, 1992.

11. Kunkel, Robert S., M.D., " Magnesium For Migraine? " Consultant, p.

827, june 1994.

12. Kahn, Jason, " Low Ionized Magnesium Linked to Migraine Headaches, "

Medical Tribune, v. 7, May 18, 1995.

13. Elin, R., " Magnesium: The Forgotten Nutient, " The Nutrition Report,

February 1995.

14. Hall, Jeffrey A., D.O., " Enhancing Niacin's Effect for Migraine, "

Cortlandt Forum, v. 46, p. 47, July 1991.

15. Schoenen, J., etal, " High-Dose Riboflavin as a Prophylactic

Treatment of Migraine: Results of an Open Pilot Study, " Cephalalgia, v.

14, p. 328-329, 1994.

 

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