James

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Posts by James Cottrill:

30 October 2008

Probiotics for IBS – study review

We’ve been talking lately about the use of a probiotics supplement for migraine. A probiotics supplement is especially attractive to those who are trying to avoid yogurt, which triggers migraine attacks in some.

One unwelcome visitor that often comes along with migraine is irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). So a recent review of studies done of patients with IBS taking probiotics supplements caught my eye, because it has implications for both groups (more on the link between IBS and migraine).

Â© Photographer: Eraxion | Agency: Dreamstime.com

In a nutshell, the studies were presented at the American College of Gastroenterology’s 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting. Researchers suggested the following:

Probiotics are safe
Probiotics help lessen symptoms of IBS
Multistrain probiotics are effective
Probiotics were also effective for teenagers and children

Why does this matter to migraine sufferers? Most obviously, because many are also suffering from IBS. But there’s another reason – the evidence is mounting that multistrain probiotics actually do help.

That may seem obvious, but some have argued that by the time the supplement gets into your system (especially into your intestines), you’re lucky if there are any probiotics that are actually still there to help you. There’s no doubt this is true for some brands (more on that in a moment). But a quality probiotic is actually improving your body’s functioning, and that is major news.

Previously I recommended Natureâ€™s Way Primadophilus Optima. I chose this particular brand because
(1) It’s a multistrain probiotic (14 strains, including bifidobacterium infantis)
(2) It seems to be among the best when it comes to getting the maximum amount of probiotic benefit into your body. Many brands of probiotics fall far short of the label’s claims about the amounts of each strain, once you actually go to take the supplement. Buying the wrong brand (this goes for yogurt too, by the way) may mean you’re taking something with very little benefit.

To maximize the benefits, be sure to refrigerate the bottle as soon as it arrives. And don’t buy 243 bottles in advance – stick to 2 or 3.

You can find Primadophilus Optima at Vitacost (above link). Primadophilus Optima is also available on amazon.com.

There is growing evidence that taking care of your "gut" (intestines) can be a powerful way to fight migraine. Finding ways to do this that are safe and effective will continue to help migraineurs make smart decisions.

Read more about the studies at Science Daily: How Effective Are Probiotics In Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

27 October 2008

Calling People with Cluster Headaches from the USA!

James News 0

If you’re a US resident, and you’ve been diagnosed with cluster headaches by a neurologist, listen up. The Organization for Understanding Cluster Headaches (O.U.C.H.) is asking you to participate in a groundbreaking online survey.

As many of you know, there is a lack of information, and a lot of misinformation, about cluster and cluster headache treatments. Though a often considered rare, it probably strikes more than 1 in 1000 people, meaning that millions around the world suffer from what have been called "suicide headaches" (see this estimate, and this one).

The results of the study will be submitted to a medical journal by a neurologist specializing in cluster treatment. The goal is to better understand cluster patients, and raise awareness among doctors, specialists, insurance companies, and the general public.

The survey will not request your name or other personal identifying information. And remember, this is only for US residents who have been diagnosed with cluster headache by a board certified neurologist You can start right now by visiting the online Cluster Headache Survey.

25 October 2008

Vestibular Migraine – Why the confusion?

James Information 5

It’s been in the news a lot lately – vestibular migraine. You can be excused if you’ve never heard of such a thing before. It’s not that lots of people don’t have it – in fact, I have a friend that does. The confusion lies in the name.

Vestibular Migraine is not the official name of any type of migraine at all. It’s better to see it as a description – a migraine with certain symptoms. The name is used, but rarely because it’s not listed in the official list of classifications from the International Headache Society.

The word "vestibular" simply means having to do with equilibrium. So, as you may guess, a migraine attack which is vestibular involves symptoms such as vertigo, dizziness, motion sensitivity, etc. (more on vestibular migraine symptoms from Johns Hopkins).

So we’re not going to say there’s "normal" migraine and "vestibular" migraine, as if there are two types. Migraine is a disease with a host of symptoms. Often those symptoms allow us to narrow down which treatment will work the best. Migraine disease has been broken down into many different types.

The type of migraine most commonly associated with vertigo is called basilar-type migraine (formerly called basilar migraine or basilar artery migraines). Vertigo is common in basilar type migraine, as is ringing in the ears, unsteadiness, visual symptoms, and sometimes a decreased level of consciousness. Another type of migraine, familial hemiplegic migraine, sometimes has similar symptoms, except with motor weakness added on. In both cases there is usually a headache.

Vestibular migraine can also be a form of migraine with aura, when the aura is vertigo or dizziness. In fact, many migraineurs experience dizziness, but when it becomes particularly overwhelming and severe, that’s when we start using the word "vestibular".

And remember, these types of migraine attacks involve lots of other symptoms beyond headache, vertigo and dizziness (such as the symptoms mentioned above). Most migraine attacks can be debilitating for a host of reasons, not just because of the headache pain. Even if there is no headache pain, the vertigo or dizziness can be frightening, and this and the many other symptoms can shut you down completely during an attack.

One type of headache that sometimes comes with dizziness is an MSG headache. MSG headache can be a migraine or not.

If you are having vestibular symptoms, it’s important not to make assumptions. See your doctor and have other causes ruled out first. (Sometimes an EEG is helpful in cases like these). Then you can investigate treatments, which generally are common to most types of migraine.

Sometimes regular migraine treatments can alleviate all the symptoms, but sometimes the vertigo remains. It’s possible to take medication for the vertigo as well.

Vestibular migraine - vertigo, dizziness, and more...

23 October 2008

Trigger points – do they trigger headaches?

James Discoveries & Stats, Treatments 4

Mayofascial trigger points (MTPs or TrPs) may cause the odd muscle pain. But what about headache? What about migraine? Is there really a relationship? If so, is it only in a few people, or is it widespread?

This is the second in our series on mayofascial trigger points. In part 1 – Trigger Points and headache – Fakery or Fact?, we found out what MTPs are, and we talked about how they may trigger headache or migraine. But could this be you? Let’s take a look.

Referred pain?

The first thing you have to remember about headache and MTPs is the concept of referred pain. You probably already know what it means – the source of the pain is in a different spot than where the actual pain seems to be coming from.

Then again, it might not be all that simple. What if a trigger point made you more susceptible to, say, a migraine attack? What if it just lowered your threshold?

Tension type headache

There are actually a whole host of things that can trigger the tension type headache reaction. Tension type headache (TTH) can be chronic, and can be seriously disabling. These headaches are usually a steady band of pain. We know things like insomnia, painkiller overuse, bad posture and caffeine withdrawal seem to trigger TTHs, but we’re still learning about why some people get them frequently and others don’t.

In fact, the whole idea that these headaches are caused by muscle tension is highly questionable – which is why they’re usually called "tension type headache" now.

It does seem that people with chronic TTH have more trigger points. There may be an underlying factor that contributes to both. However, there’s a good chance that massage of MTPs will help you if you have tension type headache, and may help you avoid a lot of pain if you have a chronic headache.

There’s more information about massage in general than MTPs in particular. A 2002 study found that massage of neck and shoulders made a significant difference (Massage Therapy and Frequency of Chronic Tension Headaches by Christopher Quinn, DC, Clint Chandler, BS, and Albert Moraska, PhD).

Migraine

In the first part of this series, I mentioned that a study in 1998 found a relationship between trigger points and the location of migraine pain. Massage of trigger points does seem to improve quality of life – especially helping with the daily headache migraineurs often get between attacks. It may be that trigger points are simply another migraine trigger – always there, sometimes worse and sometimes better, but also making you more likely to go over the edge when yet another trigger is added in.

A 2006 study (A randomized, controlled trial of massage therapy as a treatment for migraine by Lawler, S. P. and Cameron, L. D.) found that massage in general did help fight migraine attacks. And they noticed one more interesting thing – the massage also helped with sleep. Generally, if you can improve sleep you can cut down on the intensity and frequency of migraine attacks.

Cluster

As usual, cluster headaches are the least studied of these three. However, we do know that sleep problems are also related to cluster, as is oxygen deprivation in the body. Even if MTPs and cluster are not directly related, it seems likely that we can improve the situation for cluster patients by treating trigger points.

I would really like to see a long term study on this one, because it does seem intuitive that treating trigger points could make a significant difference.

The strange connection

One final note. Studies are showing a strange connection between "headache disorders" and trigger points. Quite simply, one seems to follow the other (though we don’t know who is following who!). People with headache or migraine tend to have more trigger points. If they have both tension type headache and migraine, even more. Plus, if the pain tends to be one-sided, the trigger points on that side are worse! (from Trigger Point Therapy for Headaches and Migraines by Valerie DeLaune, L.Ac.) Those with worse headaches tend to have more "active" trigger points (see this study for example).

We mentioned one more thing in our last report – it also seems that, the longer you have migraine, the more trigger points you get! Things seem to get worse over time.

These are reasons why some researchers believe that most people with headache or migraine can be helped with trigger point therapy (not cured – I’m saying their quality of life can be improved; less attacks and/or less severe attacks).

Conclusion (and coming up!)

There are a few studies showing that trigger point therapy can help, but we are looking for more studies to show how strong the relationship is, and what kind of therapy can help the most with each issue. Meanwhile, there is reason to believe that there is a strong connection between mayofascial trigger points and migraine, tension type headache, cluster, and other headache disorders.

In upcoming parts of this series, we’ll be exploring not only what kind of professional help to get, but how you may be able to help yourself – significantly.

Make sure you don’t miss upcoming posts – subscribe to the RSS feed here.

22 October 2008

Migraine Art: An Interview with Jim Chambliss (part 2)

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Welcome to part 2 of our interview with Jim Chambliss. Mr. Chambliss is studying the connections between art, epilepsy and migraine. If you missed the background and part 1, read yesterday’s post, Migraine Art: An Interview with Jim Chambliss.

Why did you add migraine art to the study?

During the course of our study of the influence of epilepsy in art we discovered that many of our artists with epilepsy also have migraines. An unusually large number of our participants with epilepsy have family members with migraines. The symptoms often overlap and/or are remarkably similar. Many of the famous artists who are thought to have had epilepsy, like Vincent van Gogh, Lewis Carroll and Giorgio de Chirico, are thought to have had migraines by some and epilepsy by others.

In order to resolve this contentious issue it is important to look at how both conditions influence art. It could be that these artists had both migraines and epilepsy. Some forms of epilepsy and migraines have a great deal in common that we can better understand through how these conditions are shared in visual depiction and in how they influence the creative process.

How you think migraine disease or epilepsy impact creativity?

Some types of epilepsy and migraines can trigger visual illusions and hallucinations. This novelty leads to some very novel thought which is one of the core elements of creativity. In addition there can, on occasion, be a hyper-stimulation and hyper-synthesis of creative thought that our study will help to explain.

What do you hope to accomplish with this study?
I hope to bring about a better understanding of the people behind the art.

What has surprised you the most so far in your research?

There is something that has a great influence in the development of a certain type of art that has been most intriguing and profound. However, I will have to wait on answering that question until the collection of information is complete and the results are fully assessed.

Do you still need people for the study?Â How can they be involved?

We still need artists, by hobby or by trade, who have any type of migraines and epilepsy to participate in this study. We also ask for their family members to participate as a group for comparison, regardless of whether they are artistic. To learn more about this study please see www.sparksofcreativity.blogspot.com or contact me by email.

What can you tell us about yourself that might surprise us?
When I arrived in Australia, people would often call me “cheeky.” I had no idea what that meant. I was relieved to learn that it describes someone who is funny and likes to joke around. Now, my nieces in the USA call me “Cheeky Uncle Jim.”

Anything else you’d like us to know?

My wife, Nicola, and I just had wonderful baby boy named Zachary Adam Chambliss (ZAC) on the 14th of October. I met my wife within three weeks after arriving in Melbourne Australia for my Ph.D. studies in creative arts and medicine. I was confronted with problems with the stigma of brain injury and epilepsy after the injuries. It was awkward in dating, particularly when I could not drive. I literally could see the change on a woman’s facial expression when I would first tell her that I have epilepsy and a brain injury.

Nicola is trained in injury management. When I told her that I had epilepsy she didn’t bat and eye. She admires what I have accomplished in overcoming these challenges and in my life as a whole. We fell in love quickly and completely. This wonderful blessing of finding my soul-mate and having a baby makes my life much more complete and enjoyable.

Again, to see some migraine and epilepsy art, to learn more about the epilepsy and migraine art study, and about Jim Chambliss, visit the Sparks of Creativity blog.

Thanks, Jim, for the interview! We look forward to hearing the results of the study.