Can coffee be used for migraine relief?
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Having lived with a mother who suffered with migraines as well as my wife who sadly has a similar fate, I can sympathise with anyone who gets migraines, witnessing the debilitating effects they have.
Before I talk about coffee or better still caffeine we first need to talk about migraines.
According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, there is a direct link between, for example, people with anxiety disorders or depression and migraines, which are usually common symptoms.
In a study conducted in 2009, researchers found that 11 per cent of those surveyed were experiencing migraines and who also had a variety of mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety or bipolar disorders.
Alarmingly, the study also found that over 40 per cent of those people who were suffering from depression were also experiencing migraines. Further research identified that migraines were more prevalent with those who were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder than the general population.
Doctors Breslau, Davis, Schultz and Peterson wrote an article in 1994, Migraine and major depression, that in part stated people with migraines are three times more likely to have depression and patients with depression are three times more likely to suffer from migraines.
In England, approximately 33 per cent of all new referrals to neurology are due to migraines and is the most common neurological reason for A&E attendance, as reported by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Primary Headache Disorders, 2014.
Migraines also occur more in women than men, with one in four women having had a migraine as well as migraines affecting women three times more than men.
Neurologist Jan Lewis Brandes, founder of the Nashville Neuroscience Group, says migraines can be triggered by hormonal fluctuation.
Once girls begin to menstruate, and hormones begin to fluctuate up and down, the number of their migraines increases dramatically with the main culprit possibly being estrogen.
However, there are other triggers, environmental changes like sounds, light, smells and movement or it could be in the genes as migraine risk may be hereditary.
In fact, as many as 18 per cent of women suffer from this often debilitating condition, according to a survey conducted in Europe and North America.
However, the cause of migraines for men and women can often be cumulative with the leading cause of migraines for both sexes due to stress, which will vary from individual to individual such as work, relationships and even stress caused by trauma.
In reality, migraine is a complex neurological condition, which affects nearly one billion people worldwide.
The World Health Organisation has deemed migraine as one of the top twenty most disabling illnesses in the world. Migraines are estimated to affect more than 5 million people in Australia.
So how can migraines be treated?
There are challenges that exist for medical practitioners treating a person with a co-occurring mental health disorder and migraines.
Often slight modifications in lifestyle choices, like drinking less alcohol, meditating more often or eating healthier can help reduce migraine occurrences.
Your GP may select a medication because it is effective for an anxiety disorder as well as migraine pain, such as some anxiolytics, tricyclic antidepressants, and monoamine oxidase inhibitors.
Melbourne-based neurologist Dr David Williams stated that a new treatment is among an emerging class of drugs that work by blocking a molecule involved in migraine attacks called calcitonin gene-related peptide.
The first drug to be approved in the United States, called Aimovig, is injected every month by the patient. Other non-traditional therapies may be helpful like; acupuncture, massage therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy or various herbs, vitamins or minerals.
However, the American Migraine Foundation reports that a strong cup of coffee can stop some migraine attacks. This is not surprising as caffeine is a key active ingredient in many headache medications. Unfortunately, caffeine’s effects on the brain can vary tremendously depending upon how often you use it.
With occasional use, it may provide modest acute headache relief, however, caffeine may lead to the development of medication-overuse headache. In such cases, migraine sufferers should use caffeine less frequently or remove it entirely from one’s diet. If you are a sufferer of migraines consult with your GP or contact, headacheaustralia.org.au.