LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

Migraine

MIGRAINE LEAVES PATIENTS AT INCREASED RISK OF PREECLAMPSIA – (07-17-06)

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Migraine Headaches and Preeclampsia: An Epidemiologic Review

Are we getting the point? To further illustrate my point, preeclampsia risk has been shown to go down with higher intakes of vitamins C and E (again–antioxidants that can help protect the mitochondria). So, patients with migraines that are actually an outward manifestation of oxidative stress/mitochondrial dysfunction, are not ever told how to properly address their condition.

This then leaves these patients at increased risk of preeclampsia and then later for stroke and neurodegenerative disorders. Our current approach to migraines is clearly the wrong approach.

Read entire article here

TO GET RID OF MIGRAINE USE THIS THERAPY – (07-17-06)

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Use of a Pine Bark Extract and Antioxidant Vitamin Combination Product as Therapy for Migraine in Patients Refractory to Pharmacologic Medication

BK3BA3RZ993P A concert with the previous article, this one again suggests that there is an underlying mechanisms to migraines that is NOT being address by physicians treated patients for migraine headaches.

Read entire article here

MIGRAINE CAUSES DYSFUNCTIONS IN THE ENTIRE BODY – (07-17-06)

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Prevalence of unexplained upper abdominal symptoms in patients with migraine

Looking at recent literature on migraines, it becomes evident that we are approaching treatment from the completely wrong angle. Migraines are slowly being recognized as manifestions of dysfunction in the entire body. Oxidative stress. Toxin overload. Mitochondrial dysfunction. The medications used to treat migraines in no way address these factors. The best approach to migraines involves lifestyle changes to impact the systemic problem. If uncorrected, migraine patients have a higher risk of stroke and neurodegenerative disorders.

This article supports the systemic links w/ migraine, suggesting that migraineurs have higher likelihood of having digestive complaints.

Read entire article here

SEASONALITY OF BIRTH: EPILEPSY RISK EFFECTED BY VITAMIN D EXPOSURE – (03-06-06)

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Seasonality of birth in Epilepsy: A Southern Hemisphere study

Would anyone like to place a bet that vitamin D exposure during the 3rd trimester is the reason people born during the spring and fall have lower rates of epilepsy? Talk about far reaching effects in time.

And consider this in light of the fear we have induced for sunlight exposure. So, if the mechanisms between migraine and seizure are similiar, would the same increase in migraine sufferers be found in those born in the winter and summer?

Read entire article here

OXIDATIVE STRESS MODEL INDUCED FOR MIGRAINES – (03-06-06)

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The postdrome of the acute migraine attack

Given that the topic of seizures is near and dear to me, this one caught my eye. It is well known that after a seizure (the post ictal period) these same symptoms described in this study are seen. And we know that the post ictal period after a seizure is caused by massive levels of oxidative damage.

So, this furthers the idea of an oxidative stress model of migraines.

Read entire article here

MIGRAINE OCCURS IN PATIENT WITH RIGHT-TO-LEFT SHUNT – (03-06-06)

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Right-to-left shunt and migraine: the strength of the relationship

This one has been a hot topic with the cardiologists lately. A whole new set of patients to perform procedures on. However, I do not feel that we have all the questions answered yet. Here is the scenario…it was found that a large number of patients in whom the opening between the right and left ventricles in the heart had never closed (in the fetus, the lungs aren’t used so the blood bypasses the lungs via this hole) had migraine headaches. In some cases, these headaches resolved when the hole was surgically closed. So here’s some additional thoughts/concerns.

We have seen studies linking oxidative stress during pregnancy to increased congenital heart defects. We know a large chunk of the cause of migraine is oxidative stress mediated. Is the oxidative stress causing the migraines merely a continuation of the oxidative stress induced by poor nutrition during pregnancy? Or is the effect more current, and blood missing the lungs makes it up to the brain poorly oxygenated and leads to oxidative stress causing migraines? Could antioxidants fix the problem instead of surgery? Still quite a few questions to be answered…

Read entire article here

5 Reasons Magnesium May Help Seizures and Migraine Headaches

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Can magnesium affect serious conditions like seizures and migraines? Because magnesium is required for some 300+ enzymes in the body, and many of these are required for healthy brain function, this just might make sense.

Today’s diets are notoriously deficient in this mineral. Foods like whole grains, nuts and seeds are good sources and can be added to the diet to increase overall intake.  Supplementation beyond dietary intake is very inexpensive and safe.

The beauty of oral magnesium supplements is that you cannot take too much.  Certain supplements, like magnesium and vitamin C, can only be absorbed in certain amounts from the gut.  If we take too much, we can’t absorb any more, so the extra stays in the intestines.  When this happens, the magnesium will attract water and create loose stools or diarrhea (not a bad side effect when someone is dealing with chronic constipation).  Anyone who has had a colonoscopy is very aware of what very high doses of magnesium will do to the gut.

Before we go further, I need to remind readers that, while medicine today does not recognize that migraines and seizures are in the same category, I strongly promote that the underlying problems in the brain are similar between the two.  For this reason, what helps or harms with one condition has a strong probability of helping or harming the other.

This particular article reviews the potential of magnesium to have a positive impact on seizures.  The authors base this on several known findings:

  1. Magnesium deficiency in animals increases seizure likelihood
  2. Low magnesium solutions can generate seizure-like activity in rat brain tissues in the lab
  3. Magnesium blocks the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor, a receptor that can cause seizures
  4. Studies have shown that people with epilepsy have lower magnesium
  5. Children with infantile spasms responded better to hormone therapy when magnesium was used

While none of these items are a slam dunk to assure that magnesium can be an effective treatment tool in seizures, given the low cost and high safety of magnesium, it would make sense to add magnesium supplements to the daily list of supplements that anyone with migraines or seizures should be taking.

Depending on the quality, levels from 400-800 mg would be good to consider.

So what supplements do you use to help manage your migraines or seizures?

ARE MY MIGRAINES DESTROYING MY BRAIN?

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The answer always has been and always will be a strong YES!

It is very, very clear that a migraine indicates that there are problems with the entire body and not merely the organ experiencing the pain (in this case the brain). I cannot stress enough that medications to control the headache do NOTHING to fix the underlying problem. In almost all cases, there is a problem with the mitochondria’s ability to generate enough ATP for normal neuronal function.

This particular study looks at damage to the white matter of the brain in migraine sufferers.  Those with more frequent attacks and those with a longer history of migraines had more damage to the brain.

There is not a single medication on the planet (headache or otherwise) that addresses this. The only answer is to fix the mitochondria by exercising and eating foods and using supplements that protect the mitochondria (low calorie, high phytonutrient stuff…) and stop harming them (chemicals, stress, heavy metals, etc..).

Unless this is the approach the migraine patient chooses to take (and will almost always have to do this independent of their treatment physician), they can expect that the process will create a slow and sure brain damage.

Scary, huh?

So what changes have you made to help protect your brain?