Migraines: Preliminary results look promising

Could free radical damage contribute to migraine
headaches? Dr. Sirichai Chayasirisobhon of Kaiser
Permanente Medical Center set out to address that
question when he recruited a dozen patients, each
with a long-term history of little or no success at
treating migraines with various drugs, including

antidepressants, beta-blockers and anticonvulsants.

At the outset of the study, subjects completed a
migraine disability assessment (MIDAS) questionnaire
to assess the impact of migraine flare-ups on
activities at home, at work and while interacting
with friends and family. For the three-month trial
period, each subject received daily supplements that
contained 600 mg of vitamin C, 300 IU of vitamin E
and 1,200 mg of a pine bark extract. Subjects were
allowed to continue using whatever medications they
were currently taking.

When subjects completed a second MIDAS questionnaire
at the end of the study period, their responses
indicated a marked improvement. And even though the
lack of a control group opens the possibility of
placebo effect, the results were promising:

* The overall MIDAS score improvement was more
than 50 percent

* Average Number of migraine days was reduced
from 44 days in the three months prior to
supplementation, to just 26 days during the trial
period

* Average migraine severity score was reduced
from 7.5 (out of 10) to 5.5

One subject dropped out of the trial. Of the
remaining 11, two reported no change in migraine
frequency, duration or severity. Among the other
nine, the overall MIDAS score improvement was nearly
68 percent.

Migraines: CoQ10 helps alleviate migraines

So...what's up with this pine bark extract?

Although not identified in the study, I believe the
extract is almost certainly Pycnogenol; a natural
antioxidant extracted from French maritime pine
bark. Pycnogenol contains a variety of polyphenols
with anti-inflammatory properties that have been
shown to benefit the cardiovascular system by
promoting proper blood flow.

In fact, Dr.Chayasirisobhon might have produced
even more impressive migraine relief if he had added
CoQ10 to the supplement mix.

In a CoQ10 trial conducted in 2002, 32 migraine
patients each received 150 mg of the antioxidant
daily for three months. In the month before the
study began, the group experienced an average of
more than seven days of migraine each. But by the
end of the study

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