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23 and 1/2 hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health?

James — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:51:56 +0000

There may be few surprises in the overall message of this video (although some of the details are quite interesting), but we all need motivation… and what a great way to start a Monday!

The author is Dr. Mike Evans. Dr. Evans is founder of the Health Design Lab at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, an Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of Toronto, and a staff physician at St. Michael’s Hospital. Check it out…

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

23 and 1/2 hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health?

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Fortified? Gluten Free? Heart Healthy? More about Labels…

James — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 01:59:36 +0000

I was going to just share this as a link on Facebook and Twitter, but I thought it was worth drawing just a little more attention to it. It’s another article about labels.

Labels on food drive me crazy. Misdirection, deception, half-truths – labels are full of them. Your best bet is to stop looking at slogans and claims and actually read the ingredients – although often these even hide the truth.

I’ve written about food labels before, and probably will again. But in the mean time, there are some great things to think about in this article from Lifehacker – What the Common Grocery Store Product Labels Mean and When They Matter. It written from a US standpoint, but should be useful to you wherever you are in the world, because the same tricks are pulled all over the world. Some things you’ll read about:

What’s the difference between fortified and enriched?
Is "gluten-free" gluten free enough?
Why "fat free" can make you fat
Will a "zero calorie" drink really help you lose weight?

I would have liked to see them talk more about how misleading these labels can be – for example, when a whole grain food contains more refined flour and sugar than whole grain, or when trans-fat free food isn’t really trans-fat free.

Still, it’s worth reading and you’ll probably think about some things you’ve never bothered to think about before.

Here’s the link to Lifehacker again. And while you’re at it, don’t miss The Migraineur’s Quick Guide to Reading Food Labels

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

Fortified? Gluten Free? Heart Healthy? More about Labels…

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Easy ways to get Nausea-Fighting Ginger

James — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 02:17:41 +0000

We’ve talked before about how excellent ginger is at fighting migraine-related nausea. But what’s the best way to take it? Just grab a ginger root and start gnawing?

No, there are better ways, and most of them aren’t hard at all. Here are some suggestions:

Buy candied ginger: This has been my traditional method. I buy organic candied ginger and keep it on hand for emergencies. This is probably the most expensive method of the ones we’ll talk about today.
Ginger Chews: Somebody recently gave me a box of Ginger Chews, and I’m a convert. I don’t want to wait for nausea to hit – I just want to eat them all now. For those who want something less hot than candied ginger, this is a great way to go. Ginger People Original Ginger Chews are available at Vitacost. Ginger Chews are also available on amazon.
Make your own candied ginger: Making your own is surprisingly easy – like, really easy. According to the author of this recipe, you may find it hotter than the store bought variety, but it’s a lot cheaper. Read How to Make Candied Ginger
Ginger Ale: The store-bought variety may not have a lot of ginger in it, unless you buy a quality brand. However, there are some great ways to make your own super-yummy ginger ale.

There are other options too – ginger tea, for example. But whatever you do, be sure you have something on hand that you can take for your tummy. You’ll probably be surprised at how well this natural treatment works, which is why it’s gotten the attention of researchers and specialists.

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

Easy ways to get Nausea-Fighting Ginger

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An Easy Way to Stop Foot Pain and maybe Headache

James — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:01:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I stopped in at a "foot place" specializing in custom orthotics. I’m very interested in investigating feet and foot pain and their relation to migraine.

But this isn’t about orthotics. It’s actually about a little tip that someone in that store shared with me. It’s all about how you tie your shoe laces.

The fact is, many of us put up with a lot of discomfort and pain in our feet, which may be involved in triggering trouble right up into our heads. And a lot of pain can be diminished or destroyed by simply paying attention to how we lace our shoes.

This article from Tracy Teare at Health.com entitled Lace Them Up: How to Stop Pain With Shoelaces demonstrates some simple ways in which you can bend down right now and improve your health. Check it out, and see what happens.

Incidentally, the tip I was given was #4 on the list.

via: Reduce Foot Pain with Alternate Shoe Lacing Methods

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

An Easy Way to Stop Foot Pain and maybe Headache

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Exercise Fights Migraine (a study of comparison)

James — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:51:47 +0000

It shouldn’t be surprising that exercise is a migraine-fighter, but a recent study published in the journal Cephalalgia in October helps to put the benefits in perspective.

Walking – an excellent way to start

The study of 91 women who had migraine attacks with headache 2-8 times per week. The migraineurs were split into three groups. One group was given topiramate (Topamax), the next was put in a relaxation program, and the last group in an exercise program.

Which helped the most?

Over a three month period, with a follow-up of 3 and 6 months. The surprising result was – that all three groups experienced about the same benefit.

Some patients even found that their symptoms dropped by 75% – a remarkable improvement for any kind of treatment of such frequent migraine attacks.

Considering the possible side effects of topiramate and other medications, and the additional and long term benefits of exercise, it’s clear what we should be focusing on here.

I admit I was surprised at the language of the doctoral student who carried out the study, Dr. Emma Varkey. She says,"Our conclusion is that exercise can act as an alternative to relaxations and topiramate when it comes to preventing migraines, and is particularly appropriate for patients who are unwilling or unable to take preventative medicines."

So we take medicines, and if that doesn’t work we go the alternate route of exercise? I think that this study and a mountain of related research should be putting things the other way around. Let’s find wise, safe ways that migraineurs can exercise, and help them long term, instead of taking money out of their wallets and encouraging them to rely on a pill.

For many migraine patients, it’s going to be a combination – exercise, medication, and other treatments such as relaxation techniques. We need to look to long term benefits and treatment as well as short term relief.

Read more about headache and exercise here, and then get started with these Headache exercise tips…

More on the study from Science Daily: Exercise Just as Good as Drugs at Preventing Migraines, Swedish Study Suggests

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

Exercise Fights Migraine (a study of comparison)

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From the archives: Beware those One-Idea Days

James — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 04:02:50 +0000

It’s a great time of year for a refresher – or for those of you who are new around here, maybe you haven’t thought about it.

So head on back through the archives to 2007, and take a look at Those One-Idea Days. Here’s how it begins:

So I hear we’re supposed to live every day like it was Christmas. Sometimes that seems like a good idea. Other times – the tense times, the sick times, the frustrating times – it seems like a nightmare. At times like this, one Christmas is more than enough…. [continue]

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

From the archives: Beware those One-Idea Days

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The Gathering Storm: Predicting Migraine Attacks

James — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:10:04 +0000

This past summer at the annual conference of the American Headache Society, researchers and specialists discussed a something that we’ve known about for a long time – but still don’t take full advantage of. That is, the premonitory phase of a migraine attack (formerly called prodrome).

Some people call it the first part of a migraine attack – others talk about it as a "warning phase". But whatever you call it, it’s a time when there are symptoms before the full-blown symptoms at the height of an attack.

Researchers are especially interested in the premonitory phase because of the possibility of treating migraine before it gets out-of-hand.

What are some of these early-warning symptoms? Dr. R. Allan Purdy suggests that mood changes are common – sadness or euphoria, for example. Also, yawning, increased sensitivity to light and sound, trouble with concentration, paleness, and fatigue. Sometime patients just "know" that a migraine attack is coming.

Dr. Purdy says,"Migraine is for many people a lightning storm that starts hours or day similar to gathering clouds before the storm, followed by the thunderous pain of the migraine headache. The premonitory phase is well-documented but only recently have scientists considered if migraine can be treated before a patient is in full attack mode."

Some believe that, for example, taking triptans early in an attack can greatly increase your chances of successfully treating the symptoms.

What does Dr. Purdy advise? "Until we fully understand the neurobiology of this phenomenon, our advice to patients is to stay alert to the presence of these symptoms and slow down to allow the body to adjust to what maybe coming if a migraine occurs."

Be aware, slow down, and try treating the migraine early. Have you found that doing these things makes a difference in your symptoms?

via: Many migraine sufferers can predict their migraine attack — may create new treatment possibilities

More about premonitory symptoms and treating migraine

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

The Gathering Storm: Predicting Migraine Attacks

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Your Tips – Music and Headache

James — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 14:46:44 +0000

Do you use music to prevent or treat a headache or migraine attack?

Sure, we all know that music can make us happy or sad or whatever. But Dr. Luciano Bernardi from Italy’s Pavia University believes that music may also have a direct impact on your cardiovascular system. In other words, it’s not just that emotions affect your heart – it’s also that your heart may affect your emotions – and music affects both directly.

In a study using classical music published in 2009, Bernardi’s team found that music had an impact on respiration rates, blood pressure, circulation rhythms, and the narrowing of blood vessels.

Diseases such as migraine do involve a complex relationship between what happens in the brain and neurological system, and the heart and blood vessels. Could this subtle influence that music has on physical responses become a part of migraine treatment?

Scientifically speaking, the answer would appear to be – yes, but it’s not that simple. Music has a very complex, ever-changing influence on the body. It may not be easy to discover and then prove in a lab just how it can be used in treatment.

In complex cases like this, you often have a head start, because you know your own body and are aware of its subtleties – even if you’re not always conscious of them.

So back to you – have you found music to be helpful? How? Is it a preventative? A coping strategy? Has it ever been a help during a migraine attack? What about various types of headache disorders?

Share your comments below!

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

Your Tips – Music and Headache

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Sinus Headache – Did You Really Beat It?

James — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 02:09:12 +0000

Pain around the sinus cavity. Congestion. Post-nasal drip. Fatigue. You’re feeling hot, and you have a headache.

You head to the pharmacy, and get a nasal spray. You come home and have a good sleep. Finally, the symptoms begin to subside.

All’s well that ends well, right? You’ve beat sinusitis again. Problem is, it probably wasn’t sinusitis at all.

Some of you caught on, didn’t you? This was most likely a migraine attack, not sinusitis at all. Did you notice the clues?

Clue #1: You’re feeling hot. Feeling hot, but if you take your temperature, you most likely didn’t have a fever. With sinusitis, you may not only feel hot but have a fever.

Clue #2: The symptoms begin to subside. That was pretty fast for sinusitis. First, nasal sprays are not always recommended – it depends on your specific condition. Even if they are recommended, if the sinusitis goes away within a few hours, you’ve probably had a migraine attack. The symptoms are more likely to last days and get worse gradually and subside gradually.

Clue #3: We didn’t mention some key symptoms of sinus headache. These may include yellowish or greenish mucus. Sore throat. And cough.

The tricky thing is that these are all possible symptoms of sinusitis, but sometimes the sinus headache comes without the upper respiratory symptoms at all. That’s right – you may get migraine with congestion and facial pressure, and sinus headache without!

So here are some more clues to help you discover a sinus headache. First, the gradual onset. Second, sinus headaches rarely come with nausea, and you’re usually not bothered as much by noise and light. Of course, it is possible to get a migraine attack within a sinus headache!

If we rely on the statistics, chances are you are having a migraine attack, or in rare cases a migraine along with sinusitis. Don’t run to the store for a nasal spray. Get a proper diagnosis, especially if it’s happening on a regular basis. Leaving either migraine or sinusitis untreated can lead to worse problems later on, and the treatment is different for each.

For more, read Are you getting sinus headache symptoms?

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

Sinus Headache – Did You Really Beat It?

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Hobbies: Helping or Hindering?

James — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:53:43 +0000

We’ve talked before about the importance of having a hobby. Of course this is not just important for migraine or cluster patients, but for anyone with chronic illness – well, for anyone at all.

But the fact is, it can be harder for someone with headache or migraine to do. Maybe because of the symptoms. Maybe because of the fear of when symptoms will strike. But perhaps one of the biggest reasons is because someone with a condition like migraine thinks they’re already not "contributing" enough. They’re not able to do "enough" when it comes to "normal" family and community activities.

Of course, the best kinds of hobbies are a contribution to the community. But that aside, it also seems that we’re more able to contribute in our jobs or in our family when we have a hobby.

Some of these thoughts were echoed in a recent article published at AHDA HeadNotes. Take some time to read A Third Space for Migraine Patients.

Are you having trouble seeing how this could really fit in your life? Not sure why it’s important (and it can be more than just important – it can be revolutionary)?

I suggest you take a look at a book called The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson Ph.D. Although I don’t agree with the author’s approach on everything, he does demonstrate with real, practical examples how and why we’ve been doing a poor job helping people – and ourselves – really find our passions in life.

Here’s the book description:

The Element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the Element, they feel most themselves and most inspired and achieve at their highest levels. With a wry sense of humor, Ken Robinson looks at the conditions that enable us to find ourselves in the Element and those that stifle that possibility. Drawing on the stories of a wide range of people, including Paul McCartney, Matt Groening, Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington, and Bart Conner, he shows that age and occupation are no barrier and that this is the essential strategy for transforming education, business, and communities in the twenty-first century.

Take the time to develop a hobby, and to delve into what you can be passionate about. It has far more value that you may realize at first.

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

Hobbies: Helping or Hindering?