Headache and Migraine News

16 November 2018

The Heroes at Boon Elementary School

This is actually old news, but it’s news that’s worth highlighting.

Boon Elementary School in Allen, Texas, was planning for their October “ribbon week”. Inspired by one of their own students who had migraine, they decided that one of their special causes of the week would be migraine and migraine research.

Students wore bracelets with yellow and orange – representing the Migraine Research Foundation. Students gave of their own money to support the causes of the week (with the 4th graders leading the charge with the most donations! — and winning the coveted “popcorn party”!).

By the end of the week, $231.29 had been raised for migraine research!

Local passion and creativity can make a difference! Working together, these elementary students have had a part in migraine research that will help migraine patients for many years to come.

So what are you waiting for? Is there something creative you can do? Big or small, if we all work together, we can fight back!

For ideas, visit the Migraine Research Foundation.

And thanks again to the heroes at Boon Elementary!

via: The Students of Boon Elementary School and Boon Patriot Post

13 November 2018

Are Vitamin Labels Wrong?

James Information, Resources, Tips, Treatments 0

Vitamin supplements are a hot and controversial topic. Many times the supplements simply don’t contain what the label says they do. And even if they do, a big question is whether various supplements are actually helping us – or just wasting our money – or actually harming us.

Vitamin Labels Regular visitors to Headache and Migraine News know that many supplements have helped many people, particularly with migraine. But we do have to be careful to use products from quality brands, and to be sure that we know how to read and understand labels.

Today, we’re talking about something a little different. Many labels simply have outdated information when it comes to “Recommended Dietary Allowances” – and probably will for many more months, even years.

This is because we have learned a lot more since these recommendations were first introduced, decades ago.

The video below, from ConsumerLab.com, provides a helpful overview. Although specifically referring to the USA, it will be helpful for everyone, and you can investigate the latest information in your own country. The helpful page that Dr. Cooperman refers to can be found here: Recommended Daily Intakes and Upper Limits for Vitamins and Minerals

Bookmark this page and use it. Remember that even these updated amounts are very controversial. Also remember that you should be getting most of your vitamins from real food! However, pay special attention to multivitamins and other supplements that go well over the recommended amount, and especially those that may get near the upper limit. Getting too little may not make much of an impact. But getting too much can cause health problems – sometimes serious ones.

10 November 2018

The Traffic Light System for Headache

James Tips 0

In the past, we’ve discussed systems for rating headache pain and disability, but today we’re highlighting one system in particular that people have found to be very helpful. It’s called the Traffic Light System

There are actually some variations of this system – not surprising, because it’s a very simple set of 3. As mentioned in the post linked to above, you could simply say “mild” “moderate” or “severe”.

But a recent report from the University of Toronto described it in perhaps a more helpful way, as shown below.

Traffic Light System The advantages of this system? It’s simple – only three options. No more trying to decide if you’re headache is a “4/10” or a “5/10”. It’s colourful – easy to see at a glance if you use these colours on a chart, or a calendar.

But maybe most helpful of all is that it describes disability more than pain.

Many people who have migraine – in particular chronic migraine – know that pain may be low one day, and yet you still feel very disabled. It could be dizziness, nausea, or other related symptoms. Other days, the pain may be higher, but you’re still able to “push through” and get some things done.

So it is very important to know not only pain levels, but just how disabled you may be over the course of a month.

Other people are finding this helpful. The Chicago Dizziness and Hearing Clinic has used a similar system. Here’s someone who incorporated a similar system into a diary (except eventually using 4 colours), and her explanation of why she likes it.

This won’t satisfy those who want a more precise measurement, but it will be useful to those who want a simple, understand-at-a-glance system.

8 November 2018

Is Migraine and early Sign of MS?

James Information, Tips 0

If you’re familiar at all with multiple sclerosis, you know that early diagnosis is considered to be very important to slow the progress of the disease and improve quality of life. We also know that migraine symptoms often accompany MS. So the obvious question is – could it be that my migraine attacks are actually an early sign of MS?

Researchers in Germany recently made that argument. But their study actually focused on the progression of headache attacks in the first few months of MS. And the results are not what you would expect.

We’ve noted before that migraine symptoms are actually especially common among women who have had MS for a long time. But according to the recent study, symptoms may actually improve over the first few months.

In the study, 50 patients were screened when symptoms of MS began, and then again 6 months later. Based on this small amount of information, headache symptoms did seem to decrease.

The authors of the study felt that the treatment of MS – specifically immunomodulatory therapy (therapy involving the immune system) may explain why headache symptoms decreased.

But of course, this means that early on in MS headache symptoms are worse. Cases have been reported of patients who have experienced migraine or cluster headache symptoms as their only or primary first warning of MS. We talked about a patient who had long lasting migraine symptoms who did indeed have MS.

An MRI for MS? These researchers recommended that young patients who have migraine-like symptoms should automatically be given an MRI, a test which helps rule out diseases other than MS and that may show signs of MS.

There are, however, good reasons why every headache patient should not be running to get their head scanned. But then again, patients already at risk for a certain disease who are experiencing new headache symptoms should take them seriously.

Who, then, is at risk for MS? MS most often is first diagnosed in young adults. But risk is a controversial subject. Some possible risk factors include:

type 1 diabetes
thyroid disease
inflammatory bowel disease
you smoke
you’re female
you’re related to someone with MS
you live far from the equator

So a patient with some of these risk factors, who is experiencing new headache symptoms, or especially symptoms which won’t go away and are getting worse, should see a doctor at the very least. Headaches can be a warning sign for many conditions, and MS is likely one of them.

This is not a reason to worry and panic. It is a reason to take headache symptoms seriously, early on, rather than to just consider it “normal” because you’re “stressed”.

Snopes takes on Cream of Tartar for Migraine

James Information, News 0

It’s not often that a Snopes article makes the rounds that is specifically focused on a migraine remedy, but the popular anti-myth site got some attention last month with a discussion of cream of tartar as a migraine remedy.

Admittedly, the article is bound to offend a wide crowd, discussing “the dubious malady of ‘MSG poisoning,'”, acid levels in the body, and even taking a jab at a popular health news site. But let’s take a look at the core issue – is cream of tartar a good migraine remedy?

What is cream of tartar? You may be familiar with cream of tartar as the white powdery substance used in baking. Baking soda actually contains cream of tartar. By itself, it’s often used to improve the look of things you’re cooking – this isn’t a cooking blog, so for a few tips, check out Cream of Tartar: What It Is and How to Use It.

But what is it? Joe Schwarcz PhD explains:

[Cream of tartar] is a byproduct of winemaking and remains behind as a sediment after fermentation. In chemical terms, it is potassium hydrogen tartrate which is basically partially neutralized tartaric acid.
[Cream of Tartar]

In everyday terms, let’s say this – cream of tartar is a mild acid in dry powdery form.

A search engine exploration will confirm that this is a “recommended” natural remedy (although now the Snopes article is pretty popular). And perhaps the last line in the Snopes article is key: “If the anecdotal reports of cream of tartar’s efficacy against headaches are real, it apparently works via a different mechanism than the ones proposed on the websites suggesting it to be a remedy.”

So what would that mechanism be?

As you might have guessed, cream of tartar is very high in potassium (of course, since it’s potassium hydrogen tartrate!). Potassium is very important in the body, regulating hydration and blood pressure, for example. In fact, in her popular book Fighting the Migraine Epidemic, Angela A. Stanton PhD advocates a system of hydrating the body with a balance of potassium and salt to fight migraine attacks.

But hold on – it’s not that simple. Although a daily recommended amount of potassium is by no means agreed upon, here’s an example – 4700mg/day (see High Potassium Eating). Now, a teaspoon of cream of tarter will give you 495mg of potassium – over 10% of your daily amount, and not far off from a cup of milk.

But taking that much potassium in powder form – or in a supplement – can be dangerous, and even trigger headaches and other symptoms. Why? because it messes with blood pressure.

Incidentally, a quick browse of popular potassium supplements show typical doses of far less than what a single teaspoon of cream of tartar would contain.

In spite of the fact that she advocates paying attention to potassium to fight migraine, Dr. Stanton warns against taking a potassium supplement:

I often receive the question if potassium should/could be supplemented in a pill form. The answer is no, you should not. Potassium is a dangerous mineral if too much is consumed (hyperkalemia) and if too little is consumed (hypokalemia). In both cases, if dietary changes don’t improve the condition, hospitalization is necessary. The harm in taking potassium as a supplement comes from the fact that it all absorbs at once. … Taken as a supplement by a migraineur, who normally has low blood pressure, it can cause fainting, palpitations, and potential heart damage, and may cause seizures. You are also likely to end up with a migraine.

She footnotes this discussion with various studies and discussions of how potassium actually works in the body.

So here’s the short answer: If your potassium is so low that you need such a high instant infusion of potassium, you have problems much more serious than slightly low potassium levels. You need to get to a doctor.

On the other hand, yes, potassium is important for migraine patients – but it should be taken the normal way, in normal foods, such as milk, spinach, avocado, and salmon. That way, the potassium absorbs normally.

By the way, don’t worry about the small amounts of cream of tartar that you typically use in cooking and baking. We’re talking here about taking it directly as a supplement.

Although the Snopes article was specifically responding to a discussion of MSG, migraine, and cream of tartar, the bottom line still seems to be that there are great sources of potassium you can make use of right now – but a teaspoon of cream of tartar isn’t one of them.