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There is no debate about the fact that there is an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency in the United States – it affects about two thirds of the population. However, it is bewildering why scientists are still debating if people should be taking...

A good predictor of response to Botox injections in chronic migraine patients has been found by Spanish researchers. While Botox is a very effective treatment for chronic migraines and possibly other types of headaches and pain, it does not help...

Yesterday, the FDA approved the first preventive (prophylactic) treatment for migraines in adolescents – kids between the ages of 12 and 17. Topamax (topiramate) was first approved by the FDA in 1996 to prevent seizures. It was approved for migraine...

The beneficial effect of Botox on mood has been reported for years. I mentioned this in one of my blog posts in 2011. Now, a new and highly scientific study (double-blind, placebo-controlled) which is about to be published in the Journal of...

A severe migraine attack can sometimes land you in an emergency room. With its bright lights, noise, and long waits, it is the last place you want to be in. To add insult to the injury, some doctors will think that you are looking for narcotic drugs...

Cefaly, a TENS unit specifically developed for the treatment of migraine headaches, was cleared for sale in the US. It was available last year for a short time on Amazon.com, but because it was not yet approved, it was taken off the market...

Imbalance of many hormones produced by our endocrine system can lead to headaches. Here is a brief summary of the hormones linked to headaches...

Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is an excruciatingly painful disorder which affects about one in a thousand people. Patients describe the pain of TN as an electric shock going through the face. Eating and talking often triggers the pain, so some patients...

Tylenol (acetaminophen, or in Europe it is called paracetamol) is the go-to drug for pain, headaches, and fever during pregnancy. A new study just published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics indicates that this drug may not be as safe as...

One of my patients I saw last week developed osteoporosis while taking Topamax (topiramate). Topiramate is known to cause osteoporosis by causing loss of calcium through the kidneys. While osteoporosis is not common, we don’t know if it is really...

Vitamin D has been reported to be low in patients with migraines as well as a host of other medical conditions. The big question is whether this is just a coincidence or a cause-and-effect relationship. In some conditions, such as multiple...

Generic drugs provide significant savings and 80% of all prescriptions in the US are filled with generic drugs. Many doctors are skeptical when patients complain that the generic is not as good as the brand. But not all generics are created equal...

Children with migraine headaches are usually given acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil). A group of Italian doctors compared responses to these two drugs in kids with migraines who took a daily magnesium supplement to those who did not...

White matter lesions that often seen on MRI scans of adult migraine sufferers were also found in children. A study by Washington University researchers inn St. Louis examined MRI scans of 926 children 2 to 17 years of age (mean age was 12.4 and 60%...

“Daily triptan use for intractable migraine” is the title of a report by Dr. Egilius Spierings published in the latest issue of the journal Headache. This is a controversial topic, which I addressed in a previous post. Dr. Spierings, who is...

Many headache sufferers take over-the-counter medications which can cause upset stomach and heartburn due to reflux. Many will then resort to taking acid lowering drugs. These drugs reduce acidity which also impairs absorption of various vitamins...

Placebo effect is a curse for medical researchers. Every new treatment has to be shown to be better than placebo and placebo is often very effective. In clinical practice, unlike in research, placebo effect is a good thing, but many doctors fail...

Strenuous mental activity seems to delay recovery after a head injury, according to a new study published in Pediatrics. Doctors have always recommended rest after a head injury, but it has never been clear how much to limit activities, what kind...

Many people who experience severe headaches are often concerned about having a brain aneurysm. What prompted this post is a patient I just saw who was found to have a small (3 mm) aneurysm on a routine MRI scan as well as a new article just...

Branded triptan medications are extremely expensive with one pill of Relpax or Frova costing $30 – $40. Fortunately, Imitrex, Maxalt, Amerge, and Zomig tablets are available in a generic form. However, even the generic version of Amerge is $3 to $4...

Another large scientific article on the benefits of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) was just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In this study by doctors at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital led by Dr. Andrew Hershey...

Mindfulness appears to reduce the effect of pain on day-to-day functioning in adolescents, according to a new study published in The Journal of Pain by Canadian researchers. This was a scientifically rigorous study of 198 boys and girls aged 13...

Research by Israeli pediatric neurologists confirms the clinical observation that chewing gum can make headaches worse. By chewing gum teenagers and younger children appear to be giving themselves headaches, according to a study published in the...

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (stimulation of the brain with a magnetic field) has been researched for over 30 years. It has been used to study the brain and to treat a variety of conditions, such as depression, Parkinson’s, strokes...

Botox is the most effective preventive treatment for chronic migraine headaches. It is also the only treatment approved by the FDA for this condition, which affects 3 to 4 million Americans. Despite the wide use of Botox for cosmetic indications...

The approval of the lower dose Sumavel device is a good opportunity to again remind migraine sufferers about the benefits of injectable sumatriptan. Many doctors do not even mention to their patients that sumatriptan is available in an injection...

The risk of dying from a variety of causes can be reduced by exercise, according to a new study published in the British Medical Journal. The effect of exercise was as strong as the effect of drugs for the prevention of diabetes, coronary heart...

Many migraine sufferers appear to have cold hands and nose, according to a new study by Finnish researchers described in the Wall Street Journal. The study compared 12 women with migraines with 29 healthy controls without migraines. Family...

Dr. Andrew Charles and his associates at UCLA just published a fascinating report on migraine aura in the journal Brain. We still do not understand the brain mechanisms that lead to the phenomenon of migraine aura. The published report...

Vitamin D seems to prevent relapses of multiple sclerosis, according to a large study by Dr. Ascherio and his colleagues at the Harvard School of Public Health. My previous posts mentioned that a high proportion of migraine sufferers have low...