Migraine Headaches and Magnesium

Women have more migraine headaches than men. If you are suffering from headache pain, magnesium supplements…

…may provide headache relief. Over twenty-five million Americans suffer from migraines with women in the twenty to fifty year old range suffering the most.

Here are some of the causes of migraine headaches associated with low magnesium levels which prompt such attacks.

Research has found that in non-menopausal women, estrogen rises before the period, causing a shift of blood magnesium into bone and muscles. As a result, magnesium levels in the brain are lowered. When magnesium is low, it cannot counteract the clotting action of calcium on the blood. Tiny blood clots are presumed to clog up tiny brain blood vessels, leading to migraines. Additionally, several other substances that help create blood clots are increased when magnesium is low. Low brain magnesium promotes neurotransmitter hyperactivity and nerve excitation that can also lead to headaches.

Pregnancy, alcohol intake, usage of some diuretic drugs, menstruation, stress and food allergies all play a role in lowering magnesium levels in the body and exacerbating existing magnesium deficiencies related to the onset of migraines.

Here is How Magnesium Can Help:

• Magnesium relaxes blood vessels and allows them to dilate, reducing spasms and constrictions that can cause migraines.

• Magnesium regulates the action of the brain neurotransmitters and inflammatory substances which may play a role in migraines when unbalanced.

• Magnesium inhibits excess blood platelet aggregation, preventing the formation of tiny clots that can block blood vessels and cause pain.

• Magnesium relaxes head and neck muscle tension which can worsen head pain.

• Magnesium, vitamin B2 and the herb feverfew are an important migraine treatment combination.

A group of 3,000 patients given 200 mg of magnesium daily had an 80 percent reduction in their migraine symptoms.(1) Much of that research was done by Dr. Alexander Mauskop, director of the New York Headache Center, working with Drs. Bella and Burton Altura who have been studying migraines and migraine treatment for ten years. Their research team consistently found that magnesium is deficient in people with migraine and many other types of headache and that treating the deficiency alleviates the headache.

(1) Mauskop A. Fox B, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Migraines, Warner Books, New York, 2001.