Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Chronic Migraine

[Guest guest]

Well, one MORE reason to get Vitamin D levels checked. Also, this article

suggests that 30 ng/dl is adequate, whereas many current Vit. D researchers

suggest that 30 is still low, and levels should be a minimum of 40 ng/dl.

(Also, recall that for many deficient patients, intakes of 50,000 iu/week are

required to get levels up to normal. Also, consider that celiac disease is also

linked to causing Vit. D deficiciency.)

Jan Patenaude, RD, CLT

_http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/577151_

(http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/577151)

Vitamin D Deficiency Common in Patients With Chronic Migraine

Caroline Cassels

Information from Industry

Explore an agent offering persistent pain relief with extended benefits.

Learn about around-the-clock treatment with potential to reduce the number of

breakthrough pain episodes and a demonstrated improvement in pain-related

sleep parameters. _Read more_

(http://as.webmd.com/event.ng/Type=click & FlightID=28413 & AdID=47467 & TargetID=6845\

& Values=205 & Redirect=http://www.medscape.com/infosi

te/ultramer?src=0_0_ad_rct)

July 7, 2008 (Boston, Massachusetts) — New research showing that vitamin D

deficiency is common in patients with chronic migraine suggests that this

patient group, like other vitamin D–deficient populations, is at increased

risk

for cardiovascular disease, malignancy, and other serious illnesses that have

been linked to low levels of this " good-health " vitamin.

Investigators presented the results of an observational study here at the

50th Annual Meeting of the American Headache Society, which showed that 41.8% of

patients with chronic migraine were deficient in 25-hydroxyvitamin D. The

study also showed that the longer individuals had chronic migraine, the more

likely they were to be vitamin D deficient.

" As far as I am aware, no one has looked at vitamin D deficiency in

migraineurs before. Recognizing that vitamin D deficiency is epidemic in the

general

population, we know that patients with migraine have other health concerns,

among them an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular

disease, and fibromyalgia, conditions that have also been linked to vitamin D

deficiency.

" So in this population, where we know there's a good chance other health

issues are present, treating vitamin D deficiency is something that we can

easily assess and treat to try to minimize some of these other health issues, "

study investigator Steve Wheeler, MD, from the Wheeler Headache Treatment

Center, in Miami, Florida, told Medscape Neurology & Neurosurgery.

'The First Person I Tested Was Myself'

Dr. Wheeler decided to investigate vitamin D deficiency in his own clinic

population of chronic migraineurs after reading a paper published in 2007 (Arch

Intern Med. 2007;167:1159-1165). The study showed a strong link between the

prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and serum levels of

25-hydroxyvitamin D.

" Until that point, I had no idea vitamin D deficiency was a cardiovascular

risk factor, although I was aware there was a link between migraine and

cardiovascular disease. "

A migraineur himself, Dr. Wheeler has a strong family history of

cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. Dr.

Wheeler said

he read several other studies on the negative effect of vitamin D deficiency

on health, including a seminal review by world expert Holick, MD,

PhD, from Boston University Medical Center, in Massachusetts (N Engl J Med.

2007;357:266-281).

He pointed out that the research shows that vitamin D deficiency is

associated with a variety of diseases in multiple-organ systems, including

hypertension, diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis,

fibromyalgia,

depression, stroke, and myocardial infarction.

After looking at the literature and considering vitamin D deficiency in the

context of his own family history, Dr. Wheeler said the issue " became

personal. "

" The first person I tested was myself, and I found I was severely vitamin D

deficient (with a 25-hydroxyvitamin D level of 8.2 ng/mL). Levels greater

than 30 ng/mL are considered sufficient, but only for bone health. Optimal

levels for other conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, are still unknown,

although it is believed they should be much higher, " he said.

Underrecognized

Dr. Wheeler then decided to look at levels in his patients. He reviewed the

records from consecutive chronic migraine patients who had vitamin D levels

assessed at a single outpatient laboratory over a 6-month period.

The study consisted of 55 migraineurs. Of these subjects, 54 had chronic and

1 had frequent migraine attacks. The mean age of the subjects was 49.8 years.

Vitamin D level consisted of total 25-hydroxyvitaimin D, 25-hydroxyvitamin

D3, and 25-hydroxyvitamin D2.

Optimal or sufficient total vitamin D was defined as levels greater than 30

ng/mL. Levels between 20 and 30 ng/mL were defined as insufficient, and

levels less than 20 ng/mL were defined as deficient.

The study showed that 41.8% of patients had levels of 30 ng/mL or less. Of

these, 27.3% had insufficient levels and 14.5% had deficient levels.

According to the study, there was a trend toward hypertension (26.1% vs

18.8%) and type 2 diabetes (13% vs 3.1%) in vitamin D–deficient patients. The

researchers also found a trend toward earlier onset of headache (14.3 vs 18

years) and migraine (16.7 vs 22.2 years) in vitamin D–deficient patients.

There was also a trend toward osteopenia (71.4% vs 44.4%) with vitamin D

sufficiency and a trend toward osteoporosis (22.2% vs 0%) with vitamin D

deficiency.

According to Dr. Wheeler, the high frequency of vitamin D deficiency, with

its concomitant risk for cardiovascular disease, malignancy, and other

illnesses, suggests that it is an unrecognized yet treatable cause of

cardiovascular

disease and morbidity in migraine.

" Clinicians generally don't recognize the importance of vitamin D

deficiency, and so they don't screen for it — not just in migraineurs, but in

all of

their patients. But it is a condition that is easily treated and may confer

major, wide-ranging health benefits, " he said.

American Headache Society 50th Annual Scientific Meeting: Abstract S33.

Presented June 28, 2008.