Vitamin D deficiency linked to increased migraine symptoms, suggests study

Vitamin D deficiency is linked to increased migraine symptoms, suggests a new study.

Patients with migraine vs control participants have a significant vitamin D deficiency, finds a recent study published in the Journal of Pain Research.

Migraine and tension headache is the most common primary headache disorders that affect 80% of the people all over the world. Global estimation of migraine headache prevalence showed that migraine affects 1 in 10 people worldwide. Migraine headache is caused by the release of pain-producing inflammatory mediators around the cranial nerves and blood vessels.

Options for migraine treatment remain unsatisfactory because of the reported lack of effectiveness and the significant side effects. Thus, efforts to identify more effective well-tolerated therapy for preventing migraine remain urgent.

In recent years, vitamin D deficiency has been reported as a global public health problem. There is strong evidence supporting an association between vitamin D deficiency chronic pain, suggesting a possible relationship between vitamin D and migraine. Vitamin D was found to have a role in the pathways involved in the pathogenesis of migraine including pain sensitization, inflammation, and immune dysfunction.

Mona Hussein, Department of Neurology, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, Egypt, and colleagues investigated the difference in serum levels of 25 (OH)-vitamin D between migraine patients and healthy controls, to determine the differences in headache characteristics according to vitamin D status, and to correlate serum 25 (OH)-vitamin D level with duration, frequency, and severity of migraine headache attacks.

This case-control study involved 40 migraine patients and 40 healthy controls. History was taken from patients with migraine regarding headache characteristics. Migraine severity scale (MIGSEV) and Headache Impact Test-6 (HIT-6) were used for migraine assessment. Serum 25(OH)-vitamin D was measured for all patients and controls using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Also Read: Riboflavin supplementation reduces headache severity in migraine patients

Key findings include:

• Patients with migraine had significantly lower 25(OH)-vitamin D serum level in comparison to controls.


• The incidence of aura, phonophobia/photophobia, autonomic manifestations, allodynia, and resistance to medications were significantly higher in migraineurs with vitamin D deficiency than those with normal vitamin D.


• There was a statistically significant negative correlation between 25(OH)-vitamin D serum level and attack duration in hours, frequency of the attacks/month, MIGSEV scale, and HIT-6 scale.

Also Read: Vitamin Deficiencies linked to Migraines: Study

"Migraine patients have significantly lower vitamin D serum level in comparison to controls and this raises awareness for the need for screening vitamin D status in patients with migraine," wrote the authors. "Such deficiency significantly affects headache characteristics, duration, frequency, and severity of headache attacks.

To read the complete study follow the link: https://doi.org/10.2147/JPR.S216314