Wondering what the newest pharmaceutical, nutritional, herbal and other treatments are for helping to heal migraines once and for all?
We cover it in this free talk.
Dr. Asare Christian is a board-certified physical medicine and rehabilitation physician (physiatrist) and the owner of Aether Medicine - an integrative pain management and rehabilitation clinic in Wayne, Pennsylvania that serves clients from around the globe.
Dr. Kate Henry is the Director of Functional Medicine at Sanare Today, a practice that combines therapy, psychiatry, nutrition, natural medicine, coaching and more to help people thrive.
Dr. Christian and Dr. Kate discuss the latest advances in migraine treatment including new pharmaceuticals, devices, nutrients, herbs and supplements that help to prevent and reduce migraines in this free 30 minute talk.
This presentation is a great resource for people who are looking to create a holistic healing plan that puts the power back in their hands when it comes to reducing and preventing migraines holistically.
Topics covered in this talk
The newest pharmaceutical advances in treating migraine
New non-drug devices that help to reduce migraine
Injectables that reduce migraine
Herbal medicines that are effective for preventing and reducing migraines
Minerals that reduce migraines
Vitamins that help to reduce migraines
How to make food-as-medicine a reality for you so that you can take back the power of your diet and nutrition in managing migraines
Some of the papers mentioned in this talk
Nutrients to Improve Mitochondrial Function to Reduce Brain Energy Deficit and Oxidative Stress in Migraine
“The nutrients that can be considered to supplement the diet to prevent and/or ameliorate migraine are riboflavin, thiamine, magnesium ions, niacin, carnitine, coenzyme Q10, melatonin, lipoic acid, pyridoxine, folate, and cobalamin.” PMID 34959985
CoQ10
Effectiveness of coenzyme Q10 in prophylactic treatment of migraine headache: an open-label, add-on, controlled trial PMID: 27670440 “This is an open-label, parallel, add-on, match-controlled trial. Eighty patients diagnosed with migraine headache based on International Headache Society criteria were allocated to receiving only their current preventive drugs or their current preventive drugs plus 100 mg CoQ10 daily, matching for their baseline characteristics, and were assessed for frequency and severity of attacks, and ≥50 % reduction in attack frequency per month. Thirty-six and 37 patients were analyzed in CoQ10 and control groups, respectively. Number of attacks per month dropped significantly in the CoQ10 group (mean decrease: 1.6 vs. 0.5 among CoQ10 and control groups, respectively, p < 0.001). A significant reduction was also evident in the severity of headaches (mean decrease: 2.3 vs. 0.6 among CoQ10 and control groups, respectively, p < 0.001). For ≥50 % reduction in the frequency of attacks per month, the number needed to treat was calculated as 1.6. No side effects for CoQ10 were observed. This study suggests that CoQ10 might reduce the frequency of headaches, and may also make them shorter in duration, and less severe, with a favorable safety profile.”
Zinc
Assessing the Effect of Zinc Supplementation on the Frequency of Migraine Attack, Duration, Severity, Lipid Profile and hs-CRP in Adult Women PMID: 33987139 “Sixty women with migraine (mean age of 35.44 ± 7.42 years) were randomly allocated to obtain 15 mg per day of zinc gluconate or placebo for 12 weeks. Frequency, periods of headaches and severity of migraine based on numerical rating scale questionnaire and migraine disability assessment (MIDAS) test were checked. Fasting serum level of lipid profile and hs-CRP were assessed at the beginning and the end of trial. Zinc gluconate supplementation significantly reduced the frequency (p = 0.001), periods of migraine attacks (p < 0.001) and severity of migraine and MIDAS (p < 0.001) compared with control group. The serum level of low-density lipoprotein (p < 0.001), total cholesterol (p < 0.001) and hs-CRP (p < 0.001) decreased following zinc supplementation, but no significant differences in serum level of triglycerides (p = 0.1) and high-density lipoprotein (p = 0.3) was observed. However, after adjustment for baseline values using analysis of covariance test, none of lipid profile components and hs-CRP showed a significant difference. Zinc supplementation has beneficial effect on the migraine related complications like its severity, frequency.” Top sources of zinc in the U.S. diet: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Zinc-HealthProfessional/
B Vitamins
Section on Pyridoxine, Folate, and Cobalamin (PMID: 34959985) “Sadeghi et al. observed that pyridoxine intake (80 mg/day) in 66 patients with migraine with aura resulted in beneficiary effects on headache severity, HDR, and migraine attack duration, but not their frequency [161]. A significant decrease was seen in migraine severity, frequency, and duration of migraine attacks, as well as in HDR in 95 patients with migraine with aura with a diet supplementation with pyridoxine (80 mg/day) and folic acid (5 mg/day) for 3 months, as compared with placebo or folic acid only [162]. Lea et al. administered, for 6 months, 2 mg of folic acid, 25 mg pyridoxine, and 400 µg cobalamin daily to 52 patients with migraine with aura [163]. In that study, a moderate effect of the genotypes of the c.677C>T polymorphism in the MTHFR (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase) gene was also observed. This polymorphism was reported to associate with migraine susceptibility in numerous studies (reviewed in [164]). The same group observed, in a subsequent study, that lowering the dose of folic acid to 1 mg/day resulted in a less effective reduction of migraine syndromes after the combined folic acid/pyridoxine/cobalamin supplementation [165]. A case-control study on 70 migraine patients and 70 individuals without headache showed that individuals with a lower status of cobalamin and methylmalonic acid had higher odds for migraine [166].”
Melatonin for Migraines
Melatonin 4mg taken nightly over 6 months reduce attack frequency by roughly ⅔ and headache impact by roughly ⅓ PMID: 27027892
Butterbur for Migraines
Petasites hybridus root (butterbur) is an effective preventive treatment for migraine DOI: https://doi.org/10.1212/01.WNL.0000147290.68260.11 “Results: Over 4 months of treatment, in the per-protocol analysis, migraine attack frequency was reduced by 48% for Petasites extract 75 mg bid (p = 0.0012 vs placebo), 36% for Petasites extract 50 mg bid (p = 0.127 vs placebo), and 26% for the placebo group. The proportion of patients with a ≥50% reduction in attack frequency after 4 months was 68% for patients in the Petasites extract 75-mg arm and 49% for the placebo arm (p < 0.05). Results were also significant in favor of Petasites 75 mg at 1, 2, and 3 months based on this endpoint. The most frequently reported adverse reactions considered possibly related to treatment were mild gastrointestinal events, predominantly burping. Conclusions: Petasites extract 75 mg bid is more effective than placebo and is well tolerated as a preventive therapy for migraine. Petasites 50 mg PO bid was not significantly more effective than placebo on the primary study endpoints.”
More Info
Typical Migraine Sufferer’s Diet: You can view the case study here https://www.rupahealth.com/post/a-functional-medicine-approach-to-panic-attacks
Sample supplements that could get you the nutrients above: https://us.fullscript.com/protocols/sanarefunctionalmedicine-migraine-natural-medicine-treatment (Do not start these without talking with your doctor).
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