Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) deficiency has been long suspected to play a role in the development of migraines, but so far it has not been directly linked to migraines.
A new study published in the latest issue of Headache compared vitamin B12 status in 70 migraine sufferers with 70 healthy people with similar demographics. Serum levels of vitamin B12 were found to be significantly lower in migraine patients than in healthy subjects. Vitamin B12 levels are notoriously inaccurate, so the authors confirmed this finding by testing for a more sensitive indicator of deficiency, methylmalonic acid (MMA), which goes up as the vitamin B12 levels go down. Patients with the B12 levels in the highest quartile had 80% lower chance of having migraines compared to those with levels in the bottom quartile. Patients in the highest quartile of MMA had more than 5 times increased risk of having migraines.
In a study migraine sufferers with elevated homocysteine levels, which is another indicator of deficiency of vitamin B12 and other B vitamins, were given vitamins B12, folic acid and vitamin B6. Their homocysteine levels dropped and migraine-related disability improved. Elevated homocysteine level is suspected to be responsible for the increased risk of strokes in patients with migraines with aura, although that is still unproven.
This latest study only shows correlation, but it does not prove that taking vitamin B12 and increasing your serum level will relieve migraines. Nevertheless, it makes sense to have your level at least in the middle of normal range since vitamin B12 is important for many brain functions. For example, multiple sclerosis patients with low B12 levels have higher disability and vitamin B12 deficiency may predispose to Alzheimer’s disease.
I’ve written in the past that long-term intake of heartburn drugs often leads to vitamin B12 deficiency. You may want to read an article in the Wall Street Journal published earlier this year, Vitamin B-12 Deficiency: The Serious Health Problem That’s Easy To Miss.
