Many with Migraines Have Vitamin Deficiencies, Study Finds

However, the researchers are uncertain as to whether supplementation would help prevent migraines.

These deficiencies may be involved in patients who experience migraines, but that is unclear based on existing studies.

 

"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," says Suzanne Hagler, MD, a Headache Medicine fellow in the division of Neurology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and lead author of the study.

 

Dr. Hagler and colleagues at Cincinnati Children's conducted the study among patients at the Cincinnati Children's Headache Center. She presented her findings at the 58th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Headache Society in San Diego.

 

Dr. Hagler's study drew from a database that included 7,691 young patients with migraines who, according to Headache Center practice, had baseline blood levels checked for vitamin D, riboflavin (vitamin B2), coenzyme Q10 – a vitamin-like substance found in every cell of the body that is used to produce energy for cell growth and maintenance – and folate (vitamin B12), all of which were implicated in migraines, to some degree, by previous and sometimes conflicting studies.

 

Of the study participants, 15 percent were found to have riboflavin levels below the standard reference range. A significant number of patients—30 percent—had coenzyme Q10 levels at the low end of the standard reference range. Significantly lower vitamin D was seen in nearly 70 percent of the patients.

 

Many were put on preventive migraine medications and received vitamin supplementation, if levels were low. Because few received vitamins alone, the researchers were unable to determine vitamin effectiveness in preventing migraines.

 

Dr. Hagler found that girls and young woman were more likely than boys and young men to have coenzyme Q10 deficiencies at baseline. Boys and young men were more likely to have vitamin D deficiency. It was unclear whether there were folate deficiencies. Patients with chronic migraines were more likely to have coenzyme Q10 and riboflavin deficiencies than those with episodic migraines.

 

Previous studies have indicated that certain vitamins and vitamin deficiencies may be important in the migraine process. Studies using vitamins to prevent migraines, however, have had conflicting success.

For example, a 2014 analysis of seven previously published papers on migraines and vitamin D deficiency suggested there isn’t enough evidence to back the claim that lower levels of the vitamin could make a person more prone to migraines. The researchers of that study found vitamin D deficiency in 13.2 to 14.8 percent of migraine patients. These rates didn’t differ widely from the general population.

 

In conclusion, taking vitamin supplements at recommended doses should be fine, but much more research is needed to determine whether vitamins alone could help stop migraines.