Vitamin D and migraine

September 11, 2019

At the biennial International Headache Congress held last week in Dublin a group of Italian researchers presented a paper, Relationship between severity of migraine and vitamin D deficiency: a case-control study.

They examined 3 groups of subjects: 116 patients with chronic migraine, 44 patients with episodic migraine, and 100 non-headache controls. Ninety-two migraine patients had vitamin D insufficiency (borderline low levels), whereas 40 had a clear vitamin D deficiency. They found a strong inverse correlation between vitamin D levels and the severity of attacks as well as migraine-related disability.

This is only a correlational study, meaning that it does not prove that taking vitamin D will help relieve migraines. However, several neurological disorders seem to be associated with low vitamin D levels, suggesting that vitamin D is very important for the normal functioning of the nervous system. So it makes sense to keep your vitamin D levels at least in the middle of normal range.

Written by
Alexander Mauskop, MD
Continue reading
November 15, 2025
Cluster headaches
Cluster headaches and solar activity
It was an unusual week at the New York Headache Center. After months of relative calm, my schedule suddenly filled with cluster headache patients—one even consulting me virtually from Saudi Arabia. The influx came right after a G5-level geomagnetic storm, one of the strongest solar events in recent memory.
Read article
November 10, 2025
Alternative Therapies
A Week of Meditation Changes Brains and Bodies
A week-long meditation retreat produces dramatic changes in brain and metabolic functions
Read article
October 21, 2025
Alternative Therapies
Meditation is better than slow breathing exercise in reducing pain
A new study published in the journal PAIN by Dr. A. Amorim and her colleagues at the University of California San Diego examined how mindfulness meditation reduces pain. The findings help clarify whether mindfulness meditation is more effective than simple slow breathing for pain relief.
Read article