Vitamin D in migraine headache: a comprehensive review on literature.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:

As a primary headache, migraine has been established as the first leading disability cause worldwide in the subjects who aged less than 50 years. A variety of dietary supplements have been introduced for migraine complementary treatment. As an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agent, vitamin D is one of these agents which has been of interest in recent years. Although higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency has been highlighted among migraineurs compared to controls, there is not any consensus in prescribing vitamin D in clinical practice. Therefore, in the current review, in addition to observational and case-control studies, we also included clinical trials concerning the effects of vitamin D supplementation on migraine/headache.

METHODS:

Based on a PubMed/MEDLINE and ScienceDirect database search, this review study includes published articles up to June 2019 concerning the association between migraine/headache and vitamin D status or supplementation.

RESULTS:

The percentage of subjects with vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency among migraineurs and headache patients has been reported to vary between 45 and 100%. In a number of studies, vitamin D level was negatively correlated with frequency of headaches. The present findings show that supplementation with this vitamin in a dose of 1000-4000 IU/d could reduce the frequency of attacks in migraineurs.

CONCLUSION:

It seems a high proportion of migraine patients might suffer from vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency. Further, the current evidence shows that in addition to routine drug therapy, vitamin D administration might reduce the frequency of attacks in migraineurs. However, these results have yet to be confirmed.

• Authors: Zeinab Ghorbani, Mansoureh Togha, Pegah Rafiee, Zeynab Sadat Ahmadi, Reyhaneh Rasekh Magham, Samane Haghighi, Soodeh Razeghi Jahromi, Maryam Mahmoudi
• Journal: Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology (Neurol Sci) Vol. 40 Issue 12 Pg. 2459-2477 (Dec 2019) ISSN: 1590-3478 [Electronic] Italy
• PMID: 31377873 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Systematic Review)

Chemical References

• Vitamin D

Topics

• Dietary Supplements
• Humans
• Migraine Disorders (drug therapy)
• Vitamin D (administration & dosage, pharmacology)