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Magnesium Treatment for Migraines

An Inexpensive but Equivocal Treatment

© Connie Stewart

May 22, 2009
Mg in Periodic Table, created by author using Paint.net
Can the relatively inexpensive and easily achieved activity of dietary supplementation with magnesium reduce migraine frequency and pain?

Migraines are widespread, and they have inordinate financial repercussions. The National Migraine Association states: "The US annual direct and indirect economic costs of Migraine disease and headache disorders exceeds $31 billion."

The financial whammy exerted by migraines is no surprise when the lost productivity/wages plus the money spent for medicines and treatment is multiplied by the number of migraines sustained.

The World Health Organization convened an international panel on headache and related disorders in March 2000, and among the panel's conclusions was that 10-15% of Europeans and Americans, 8.4% of Japanese, and 2.9-7.2% of African people experience migraines.

A Potential Low Cost Migraine Preventative

A inexpensive treatment that reduces frequency and magnitude of migraine attacks would be advantageous, and dietary supplementation with magnesium has some evidence of fulfilling that objective.

  • The evidence that magnesium is effective in reducing migraine frequency and pain

  1. A 1992 study in Italy found that women with menstrual migraine who took magnesium at 360 mg/day beginning on Day 15 of their menstrual cycle had decreased days of migraine and decreased total pain by the second month of the regimen. (Headache. 1991 May;31(5):298-301.)
  2. A 1996 study in Germany found that migraine sufferers taking 600 mg of magnesium daily for 12 weeks had 41.6% fewer attacks than they had suffered before the treatment. The beneficial effects were seen by the ninth week of treatment. (Cephalalgia. 1996 Jun;16(4):257-263.)
  3. A 2003 study in the United States (California) found the migraine-suffering children (ages 3-17) given magnesium at 9 mg/kg/day had a small but significant decrease in migraine frequency and severity relative to the group taking a placebo. (Headache. 2003 Jun;43(6):601-610.)

  • The evidence that magnesium has no effect on migraine frequency and pain

  1. A 1996 study in Austria found that migraine sufferers taking magnesium at 485 mg/day for 12 weeks showed no difference in number or severity of attacks than they had experienced before treatment. (Cephalalgia. 1996 Oct;16(6):436-440.)
Magnesium Supplementation to Reduce Migraines: Yes or No?

Whether magnesium supplementation does or does not reduce migraine frequency/pain, magnesium is an essential component for many biological processes, and everyone (migraine sufferer or non-migraine sufferer) needs to ensure that he/she obtains the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) from either food or supplements. A table listing RDAs by age and gender is available at Oregon State University's Micronutrient Information Center. The site also provides a table of foods relatively rich in magnesium.

Since magnesium is safe (except for people with specific health problems) when taken in the tolerable upper limits set by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine (350 mg/day for adults and adolescents) and since magnesium is relatively inexpensive, some migraine sufferers may experience fewer episodes and reduced pain by taking a magnesium supplement.


The copyright of the article Magnesium Treatment for Migraines in Neurological Illness is owned by Connie Stewart. Permission to republish Magnesium Treatment for Migraines in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.


Mg in Periodic Table, created by author using Paint.net
        


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Comments
May 26, 2009 10:22 PM
Guest :
Dear Ms. Stewart;

Thank you for your informative article. I would like to ask your permission to re-print the article or excerpts from it on our web site. I am with the Nutritional Magnesium Association (www.nutritionalmagnesium.org) and Dr. Carolyn Dean, our Medical Director and author of "The Magnesium Miracle" would like to add the following information which I hope is helpful:

1. Nutritional Magnesium prevents platelet aggregation, which helps to avoid the thickened blood and tiny clots that can cause blood vessel spasms and the pain of a migraine headache.
2. Magnesium relaxes the head and neck muscle tension that makes tension headaches and migraines worse.
3. Magnesium, vitamin B2, and the herb feverfew are an important headache treatment combination.
4. Hypoglycemia - The brain becomes extremely vulnerable to excitotoxins during episodes of low blood sugar or hypoglycemia. Pound for pound, the brain uses more blood sugar than any other part of the body. Low blood sugar occurs when you are malnourished or even when you skip meals. It also occurs in individuals whose adrenal glands are depleted and can’t mount the necessary adrenaline response to raise blood sugar when it gets too low. Magnesium is responsible for balancing blood sugar. With sufficient magnesium and balanced meals to prevent low blood sugar, you can protect yourself against headaches.
6. Not all forms of magnesium are absorbable or bio-available, which may be the reason for the variation in study results. Additionally, due to modern farming methods, our soils and hence our foods, are seriously depleted of vital nutrients and minerals such as magnesium.
7. One of the most absorbable forms of nutritional magnesium is magnesium citrate powder which can be taken with hot or cold water and can be found in most health food or vitamin stores.

Best regards,

Boris
Nutritional Magnesium Association
info@nutritionalmagnesium.org
1 Comment:
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