Cocoa Enriched Diets Can Be Beneficial in Migraine Treatment

"It appears that a cocoa-enriched diet in rats can repress the proteins that are associated with the promotion and maintenance of inflammatory responses such as migraine," said Paul L. Durham.

16 Sep 2009 --- For several years, researchers have been interested in the value of Theobroma cacao in treating a variety of disorders. A new study presented at the International Headache Society's 14th International Headache Congress hosted by the American Headache Society (AHS) in Philadelphia, has provided the first evidence for the value of cocoa as a dietary supplement in repressing inflammatory responses within the trigeminal ganglia which are thought to play a role in migraine.

"It appears that a cocoa-enriched diet in rats can repress the proteins that are associated with the promotion and maintenance of inflammatory responses such as migraine," said Paul L. Durham, PhD of Missouri State University's Center for Biomedical & Life Sciences, an author of the study.

"Although this is an early animal study, it shows promise in helping researchers understand more about how migraine can be prevented and treated," said Michael Moskowitz, MD, President of the International Headache Society. "So much more research is needed in understanding this devastating disease that robs millions of Americans of a productive quality of life." Some 36 million Americans suffer with migraine, more than either diabetes or asthma.

More than 400 scientific papers and posters are to be presented during the IHC/AHS meeting which is expected to draw some 1,200 migraine specialists and scientists from around the globe. The meeting is the world's largest professional conference on migraine and headache-related diseases.