Natural Headache Remedies- Butterbur, Coenzyme Q10, CoQ10

By Bonnie Jenkins, Advanced Natural Medicine

As headaches go, migraines are in a league all their own. Affecting three times as many women as men, they are far more debilitating than the more common tension headaches. To make matters worse, research suggests that for some sufferers, serious health consequences may be part of the migraine package.

Fortunately, help may be as easy as a trip to your local health food store. The right diet or supplement can make a huge difference when managing your migraine and its consequences.

Migraines Explained ...

A migraine produces unbearable, throbbing pain on one side of the head that lasts from a few hours to a few days. It can also cause nausea, vomiting and a sensitivity to light and sound. About 20 percent of the estimated 25 to 30 million migraine sufferers in the U.S. also experience an aura. No, it isn’t some “new age” invention. A migraine aura is a disturbance in vision that precedes an attack. Auras often consist of brightly colored or blinking light, blurred vision, blind spots or zigzag lines in your field of vision.

While all migraines cause suffering, migraines with an aura appear to threaten health the most. Several studies suggest a connection between migraines with aura and stroke. One Harvard study examined the incidence of stroke in a group of nearly 40,000 middle-aged women over the course of nine years. The results? Women who experienced an aura were nearly twice as likely to suffer ischemic strokes, the kind caused by clogged blood vessels to the brain. But migraines without an aura posed no such risk.

During a later study, the Harvard team found links between auras and other cardiovascular diseases. For instance, migraines with an aura almost doubled the chance for heart disease, heart attack and angina in nearly 28,000 people compared to aura-free migraines and no migraines at all.

What- Me Worry?

Experts aren’t sure why an aura increases the risk of heart disease. Some suggest it’s genetic. Australian and New Zealand researchers recently found that a genetic mutation that causes elevated blood levels of homocysteine is more common among people who experience migraines with an aura than those without an aura. And high homocysteine levels boost the likelihood of stroke and heart attack.

But even aura-free migraines carry some risk. In a recent study of men, those who suffered migraines – with or without aura – were 42 percent more likely to have a heart attack. And new research suggests that migraines deprive brain cells of oxygen, causing brain damage.

So should you be worried? While researchers ponder the mysteries of migraines with aura, it’s important to keep the risk in perspective. After all, you can’t change the fact that you have migraines with an aura. But there are risk factors you can control to lower your odds of developing heart disease. Eating a diet low in trans and saturated fats and high in fruits, vegetables and fiber is a great first step. Keeping your weight down is also important. Extra body fat not only increases cardiovascular risk, being overweight can make migraines worse. More than 30,000 people were asked about headache frequency and severity in a recent study from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Researchers discovered that, as a person’s body mass index increased, so did the number of headaches and severity of pain.

Heading Off Pain

If you’re a long-time migraine sufferer, dietary changes alone probably won’t do the trick. But adding one of the following supplements can help reduce the frequency, duration and severity of you migraines. But take one at a time so you can tell which one works for you.

Butterbur: Research suggests that taking 75 mg. of butterbur extract twice daily for at least four months may cut migraine attacks nearly in half for those who experience them two to six times a month.

Coenzyme Q10: Researchers at the Cleveland Headache Center found that 150 mg. of CoQ10 a day decreased the number of days with migraine in 60 percent of migraine sufferers. A recent trial from Switzerland suggests that taking 100 mg. of CoQ10 three times daily produces similar effects. But it won’t happen overnight. Expect to see an improvement in two to three months.

Feverfew: Studies show that taking 125 mg. of a feverfew extract daily can help prevent migraines. Just make sure you don’t try this one if you are allergic to ragweed.

Magnesium: Several studies have found that inadequate magnesium intake may trigger migraines. Eat whole grains, legumes, nuts, spinach and avocado plus take 300 mg. of supplemental magnesium daily to bring magnesium levels up.

Riboflavin: A study of migraine sufferers who took 400 mg. of riboflavin (vitamin B2) every day for three months found the number of monthly headaches dropped and headache duration decreased as well.

One Last Thing ...

According to anecdotal reports, certain foods can trigger migraine attacks in some people – but the scientific evidence linking food to migraines is actually quite sparse. Still, it makes sense to avoid foods if you’ve found they set your migraines in motion.

Here are the most common food triggers: Caffeine can spark a migraine, especially when consumed in excess. But be careful if you cut back, because quitting caffeine cold turkey often results in rebound headaches. Foods brimming with tyramine and tannins, two natural food compounds, may also set off a migraine. Tyramine is richest in red wine, avocados, overripe bananas, aged cheese and chocolate. Tannins are most abundant in apple juice, blackberries, coffee, tea, chocolate and red wine.

But don’t expect to be headache-free simply by avoiding a food or two. It’s likely that giving up trigger foods won’t be enough to deter migraines. That’s because migraines tend to be the by-product of accumulated insults to the nervous system, including stress and fatigue. You may need to combine supplements, food avoidance, stress management and regular exercise to truly get a handle on your migraines.

This Just In ...

Are you one of those people who think that an occasional indulgence – say, a fried chicken dinner or a buttery dessert – can’t hurt? Well, think again! It turns out that eating a single high-fat meal can raise blood pressure significantly more than a low-fat meal.

That’s what U.S. and Canadian researchers found when they fed 30 healthy people a single meal that was either very low-fat (about one percent of calories) or very high-fat (about 46 percent of calories) and then exposed them to stressful situations like public speaking, performing mental math and exposure to cold temperatures. Those given the high-fat meal experienced a greater rise in blood pressure and more stress on their blood vessels, upping the risk to their cardiovascular system.

So, the next time you’re tempted to go whole hog at the dinner table, take a pass. Your heart will thank you.

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References:

Bigal ME, Liberman JN, Lipton RB. “Obesity and migraine: a population study.” Neurology. 2006;66:545-550.

Diener HC, Kurth T, Dodick D. “Patent foramen ovale, stroke, and cardiovascular disease in migraine.” Current Opinions in Neurology. 2007;20:310-319.

Jakulj F, Zernicke K, Bacon SL, et al. “A high-fat meal increases cardiovascular reactivity to psychological stress in healthy young adults.” Journal of Nutrition. 2007;137:935-939.