foodconsumer.org: B vitamins fight migraines

B vitamins fight migraines
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admin on 04/09/2009 17:35:00
 
Thursday April 9, 2009 (foodconsumer.org) -- What do Vincent Van Gogh, Ulysses
S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Virginia Wolfe, and Elvis Presley have in common? They
all suffered from debilitating migraine headaches.
If you are a migraine sufferer, you can certainly sympathize; you also know the
symptoms well – sensitivity to light, visual disturbances (such as blind spots
and stars), nausea, and a pounding in the side of the head that can leave the
strongest among us bedridden.
Migraine headaches are no joke; the World Health Organization lists migraines as
one of the top ten causes of years of healthy living lost to disability.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that a study recently completed by
Australia’s Genomics Research Center, located at Griffith University in
Brisbane, found that relief from the malady may be as nearby as your closest
grocery or drug store.
Long touted as a cognitive function enhancer, the GRC discovered that folic
acid, coupled with vitamins B6 and B12, can significantly reduce the frequency
and intensity of migraine onset.
Fifty-two people who had been previously diagnosed with migraine disorder were
randomly given either a vitamin B cocktail (2 mgs of folic acid, 25 mgs of
vitamin B6, and 400 micrograms of B12) or a placebo over a sixth month period.
The results were encouraging.
In a previous study, GRC discovered that migraines are caused by higher levels
of the amino acid homocysteine, which had already been linked to stroke and
other coronary problems. In the newer study, the migraine sufferers who took the
vitamin B supplements significantly reduced their homocysteine levels by 39%;
the control group saw no change whatsoever.
Additionally, disability from migraines was reduced from 60% at the beginning of
the study to 30% after six months. Frequency and severity of the headaches were
also lessened significantly; again, no such change occurred in the placebo
group.
The report also identified a certain gene (MTHFR) that when mutated is
responsible for the higher homocysteine levels among migraine patients. Dr. Lyn
Griffiths, who led the researchers, believes that future genetic profiling will
allow scientists to know just how much of the supplement to give individual
patients. Such “personalized nutrition” will certainly increase the quality
of life for millions of migraine sufferers everywhere.
(By Rachel Stockton, and edited by Heather Kelley)