VERIFIED CONTENTAuthor: Karolina Karabin, MD, PhD, molecular biologist, laboratory diagnostician, nutrition and lifestyle consultant
Migraine is a chronic disease that manifests itself primarily by recurring, severe headaches. While the causes of migraine have not been clearly established, it has been noted that various lifestyle factors such as stress, exercise and diet can be triggers for migraine headache. For this reason, it is also worth supporting pharmacotherapy with non-pharmacological methods, including lifestyle changes, in which a visit to a dietitian or nutrition specialist may be helpful.
Migraine is a chronic disease characterized by paroxysmal headaches. In 30% of patients, the so-called aura, i.e. symptoms that precede a headache, such as visual disturbances, sensitivity to light, sound and smells, nausea and vomiting. The presence or absence of an aura is an important criterion for the classification of migraine:
- migraine without aura
- migraine with aura
About 12% of the world's population suffer from migraine, and it is diagnosed more often in women than in men. The peak in the incidence of migraine is between the ages of 35 and 39.
What are the causes of migraines?
The exact cause and mechanism of migraine development still remains a mystery. Most likely, migraine is a manifestation of an innate tendency to over-react to various stimuli, which may result from a number of intracranial and extracranial neuronal disorders.
The hereditary basis also plays a role, as it has been documented that the risk of migraine in relatives of patients is 3 times higher than in relatives of he althy people.
Various environmental factors have been shown to trigger migraine attacks, and some of the best described are those related to lifestyle.
A 2007 retrospective study by Kelman et al. Showed that 76% of patients are able to identify factors that trigger migraine headache.
The most common triggers are:
- stress (80%),
- hormonal changes in women (65%),
- skipping a meal (57%),
- weather change (53%),
- sleep deficiency (50%),
- intense fragrances (40%),
- neck pain (38%),
- exposure tolight (38%),
- alcohol consumption, especially wine (38%),
- smoking (36%),
- going to bed late (32%),
- high temperature (30%),
- food (27%),
- physical activity (22%).
How to treat a migraine?
In the treatment of migraine, pharmacological agents such as drugs are mainly used:
- anti-inflammatory and analgesic, e.g. ibuprofen,
- antiemetic, e.g. metoclopramide,
- sedative, e.g. diazepam,
- specific anti-migraine medications, e.g. that affect the receptors involved in migraine attacks,
- auxiliary drugs, e.g. codeine.
In addition to pharmacotherapy, non-pharmacological methods are used in the treatment of migraines, which include changing the patient's lifestyle, including the way he or she is fed. This is especially important in people for whom pharmacological treatment is ineffective, e.g. due to drug resistance, ineffective or fails to meet the patient's expectations due to side effects caused by drugs.
Migraine diet
Studies have shown that different diets can be effective in reducing the frequency of migraine headache. It is believed that certain diets can alleviate the course of migraines by influencing the levels of signaling substances such as serotonin, nitric oxide, adiponectin, leptin, mitochondrial function and the composition of the gut microbiota.
Recently, a lot of attention has been paid to the ketogenic diet, which in some way mimics various forms of caloric restriction. The ketogenic diet is a therapeutic intervention aimed at the metabolism of the brain and aims to increase the concentration of ketone bodies in the body.
Although the exact mechanism of action of this diet on the course of migraine is unknown, it is believed that ketone bodies may be an alternative source of energy for our brain, and therefore likely to bypass some of the abnormalities in glucose metabolism and transport observed in people with migraine.
Other types of diets that can alleviate the course of migraines include low-carbohydrate or low-glycemic-index diets. However, it is worth emphasizing that in many cases it is enough to introduce a few rules of he althy eating to effectively reduce the frequency of attacks.
