Migraines and Vitamin Deficiencies

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Migraines and Vitamin Deficiencies

Children, teens, and young adults with migraines appear to have mild deficiencies in vitamin D, riboflavin, and coenzyme Q10, according to research presented at the 58th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Headache Society.

Suzanne Hagler, MD, Headache Medicine fellow in the Division of Neurology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and colleagues, conducted a study of patients at the Cincinnati Children’s Headache Center. Patients had baseline blood levels checked for vitamin D, riboflavin, coenzyme Q10, and folate, all of which had been linked to migraines, in varying degrees, in previous studies.

Dr Hagler found that, at baseline, girls and young women were more likely to have coenzyme Q10 deficiencies, and that boys and young men were more likely to have a vitamin D deficiency. Patients with chronic migraines were more likely to have coenzyme Q10 and riboflavin deficiencies than those with episodic migraines.

“Further studies are needed to elucidate whether vitamin supplementation is effective in migraine patients in general, and whether patients with mild deficiency are more likely to benefit from supplementation,” Dr Hagler concluded.

Reference

  1. Hagler S, Green A, Horn P, et al. Coenzyme Q10, folate, riboflavin, and vitamin D deficiency in pediatric, adolescent, and young adult migraine patients. Poster presented at: The 58th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Headache Society; June 9-12, 2016, San Diego, CA.