Headaches are one of the most common presentations to doctors offices today. Over 45 million Americans suffer from chronic headaches with the distribution of men and women almost equal. Primary headaches occur in general on their own and secondary headaches occur because of other underlying problems.
Causes of headache include:
Muscle tension, spasm
Medication side effect
Hypoglycemia
Hypertension
Mineral deficiency
Vitamin deficiency
Fibromyalgia
Injury or accident
Connective tissue disorder
Allergy to food or Inhalant
Hormone deficiency
Cardiovascular disease
Stroke or TIA
Malignancy
and so forth.
Because these are common, we need to do a better job at understanding them, as well as describing them to our physicians so that the underlying causes can be evaluated. Specific symptoms should be charted and described in duration, intensity area and quality so as to better define type of headache. Whether Migraine, Cluster or other types, education is the best means of preventing disaster.
If headaches persist , or change intensity , have a physician evaluate them.
Magnesium deficiency has been a common presentation with patients that I have seen in the office. Correction of minerals has always created excellent results.
(Another endorsement for doing testing for vitamins and minerals !!)
Thanks,
Dr. Chris Calapai
Vitamin D and Calcium in Menstrual Migraine
Two premenopausal women with a history of menstrually-related migraines and premenstrual syndrome were treated with a combination of vitamin D and elemental calcium for late luteal phase symptoms. Both cited a major reduction in their headache attacks as well as premenstrual symptomatology within 2 months of therapy. These observations suggest that vitamin D and calcium therapy should be considered in the treatment of migraine headaches.
Intravenous magnesium sulfate relieves cluster headaches in patients with low serum ionized magnesium levels.
Patients with cluster headaches have been reported to have low serum ionized magnesium levels. We examined the possibility that patients with cluster headaches and low ionized magnesium levels may respond to an intravenous infusion of magnesium sulfate. Thirty-eight infusions of magnesium sulfate were given to 22 patients with cluster headaches. The mean ionized magnesium level prior to 23 infusions which provided relief for at least 2 days and enabled the patient to skip two or more attacks, was 0.521 +/- 0.016 mmol/L; this value was 0.561 +/- 0.016 prior to 15 infusions which were ineffective.
These latter 15 infusions were preceded by higher total magnesium levels. The ionized magnesium level prior to the 23 effective infusions was below 0.54 mmol/L in 19 patients. Five of the 15 ineffective infusions were accompanied by basal ionized magnesium levels below 0.54 mmol/L. In 76% of the infusions, there was a correlation between a response and an ionized magnesium level below 0.54 mmol/L. Nine patients (41%) obtained clinically meaningful improvement.
Spontaneous remissions and a placebo effect might have accounted for some of the improvement. However, this should have applied equally to all patients, regardless of the ionized magnesium level. Measurements of ionized magnesium may prove useful in elucidating the pathogenesis of cluster headache and in identifying patients who may benefit from treatment with magnesium.
Deficiency In Serum Ionized Magnesium But Not Total Magnesium In Patients With Migraines.
It has been suggested that magnesium (Mg) may play a role in the pathogenesis of headaches. Serum and intracellular measurements of Mg in headache patients have produced inconsistent results. The recent development of an ion-selective electrode for Mg2+ allowed precise measurement of serum ionized magnesium (IMg2+) in patients with various headache syndromes.
Low serum Img2+ and a high ICa2+/IMg2+ ratio were found in 42% of patients having an attack of migraine, but only in 23% of patients with e severe continuous headache. Total serum Mg was normal in both groups of patients. However, in patients with low serum IMg2+ total serum Mg was lower than in patients with normal serum IMg2+.
These results are compatible with the serotonin and vascular concepts of migraine pathogenesis. Low IMg2+ and a high ICa2+/Img2+ would result in cerebral vasospasm and reduced blood flow in the brain. The activity of serotonin receptors can also be affected by changes in IMg2+ levels.
The finding of a difference in IMg2+ levels in two different headache types suggests a possible novel classification of headaches and that migraine patients with a low serum IMg2+ or a high ICa2+/IMg2+ ratio may benefit from Mg supplementation.
Preventive Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen in Cluster
The effect of a 2-week course of hyperbaric oxygen on both the duration and frequency of cluster headache attacks was tested in four patients suffering from chronic cluster headache with no clear response to pharmacological treatments.
Two patients (two courses in one case) dramatically improved while on hyperbaric oxygen treatment, this positive response remaining for 2 and 31 days posttreatment. Case 3 only improved in frequency, while the remaining patient showed no benefit.
These findings suggest that daily hyperbaric oxygen treatment can be used as a transient preventive treatment for desperate cluster headache sufferers.