10 Most popular Headache and Migraine Books of 2008!

We all know that "popular" does not always equal "good".  However, for your interest, here are the books that have proved to be popular to our visitors in the previous year.  Here we go, starting with #10:

• Secrets of Serotonin: The Natural Hormone That Curbs Food and Alcohol Cravings, Elevates Your Mood, Reduces Pain, and Boosts Energy by Carol Hart.  This 1996 book continues to be so popular that Secrets of Serotonin, Revised Edition came out earlier this year.
• Migraine Headaches and the Foods You Eat: 200 Recipes for Relief by by Agnes Peg Hartnell and G. Scott Tyler.  In my opinion a boring presentation, but lots of recipes.
• Migraines for Dummies by Dianne Stafford and Jennifer Shoquist.  And now they even have a pocket edition.  Who knew?
• The Headache Prevention Cookbook: Eating Right to Prevent Migraines and Other Headachesby David R. Marks and Laura Marks, another foray into the migraine diet topic.  3 years newer than the previously mentioned one.
• The Women’s Migraine Survival Guide: The most complete, up-to-date resource on the causes of your migraine pain–and treatments for real relief by Christina Peterson.  Written in 1999, it’s not so up to date anymore.  I would love to see a new book or revised edition specifically for women, and one for men.  Is that too politically incorrect for 2009?
• The Migraine Cookbook: More than 100 Healthy and Delicious Recipes for Migraine Sufferers by Michele Sharp.  Migraine cookbooks have their weaknesses, but out of the popular ones this is still my favourite.
• The Magnesium Solution for Migraine Headaches by Jay S. Cohen, bringing attention to this often ignored supplement.
• Heal Your Headache: The 1-2-3 Program for Taking Charge of Your Pain by David Buchholz.  This is a HUGE migraine bestseller.  It has been in the centre of controversy with its faith in elimination diets.  Though it has helped some (of course, any treatment could claim to have helped some!), it has been often panned because of unrealistic expectations of diet alone.  But I won’t take the time for a full review here!
• Conquering Your Migraine: The Essential Guide to Understanding and Treating Migraines for all Sufferers and Their Families by Seymour Diamond and Mary Franklin.  Diamond is of course a well known headache and migraine specialist.
• What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About: Migraines: The Breakthrough Program That Can Help End Your Painby Alexander Mauskop and Barry Fox.  Mauskop is another headache and migraine specialist.  This book from 2001 should be getting old, but it’s so full of practical advice, it’s still worth the money (review here).

Now remember that many of these books are popular in part because they’ve been around so long.  The newest would be 2004 – the Magnesium Solution.  So let me mention three others that haven’t made the list.

• Migraine and Other Headaches by William B. Young and Stephen D. Silberstein.  By two doctors, this relatively short book is packed with great information and charts which I frequently check in my research.  Published in 2004.
• Living Well with Migraine Disease and Headaches: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Tell You…That You Need to Know by Teri Robert.  This 2005 book is a contribution from a migraineur’s advocate, and is heavy on the practical side of how to navigate the medical and economic realities of living with a chronic condition.
• The Migraine Brain: Your Breakthrough Guide to Fewer Headaches, Better Health by by Carolyn Bernstein and Elaine McArdle.  Migraine research is speeding up, and it’s easy for a book only a few years old to rely on outdated information.  I haven’t finished reading this one yet, but so far it’s fresh and offers perspectives on research that wasn’t available when the older books were written.  This is a 2008 contribution.

A few of these books to check out are on the right.