Trial provides “grounds for optimism” for many people with persistent headaches
Eating a diet that is rich in omega 3 (n-3) fatty acids reduces the frequency of headaches compared with a diet with normal intake of omega 3 and omega 6 (n-6) fatty acids, finds a recent study published by The British Medical Journal.
Modern industrialised diets tend to be low in omega 3 fatty acids and high in omega 6 fatty acids. These fatty acids are precursors to oxylipins – molecules involved in regulating pain and inflammation.
Oxylipins derived from omega 3 fatty acids are associated with pain-reducing effects, while oxylipins derived from omega 6 fatty acids worsen pain and can provoke migraine. But previous studies evaluating omega 3 fatty acid supplements for migraine have been inconclusive.
A team of US researchers wanted to find out whether diets rich in omega 3 fatty acids would increase levels of the pain-reducing 17-hydroxydocosahexaenoic acid (17-HDHA) and reduce the frequency and severity of headaches.
Their results are based on 182 patients at the University of North Carolina, USA (88% female; average age 38 years) with migraine headaches on 5-20 days per month who were randomly assigned to one of three diets for 16 weeks.
The control diet included typical levels of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. Both interventional diets raised omega 3 fatty acid intake. One kept omega 6 acid intake the same as the control diet, and the other concurrently lowered omega 6 acid intake.
During the trial, participants received regular dietary counselling and access to online support information. They also completed the headache impact test (HIT-6) – a questionnaire assessing headache impact on quality of life. Headache frequency was assessed daily with an electronic diary.
Over the 16 weeks, both interventional diets increased 17-HDHA levels compared with the control diet, and while HIT-6 scores improved in both interventional groups, they were not statistically significantly different from the control group.
However, headache frequency was statistically significantly decreased in both intervention groups.
The high omega 3 diet was associated with a reduction of 1.3 headache hours per day and two headache days per month. The high omega 3 plus low omega 6 diet group saw a reduction of 1.7 headache hours per day and four headache days per month, suggesting additional benefit from lowering dietary omega-6 fatty acid.
Participants in the intervention groups also reported shorter and less severe headaches compared with those in the control group.
This was a high quality, well-designed trial, but the researchers do point to some limitations, such as the difficulty for patients to stick to a strict diet and the fact that most participants were relatively young women so results may not apply to children, older adults, men, or other populations.
“While the diets did not significantly improve quality of life, they produced large, robust reductions in frequency and severity of headaches relative to the control diet,” they write.
“This study provides a biologically plausible demonstration that pain can be treated through targeted dietary alterations in humans. Collective findings suggest causal mechanisms linking n-3 and n-6 fatty acids to pain regulation, and opens the door to new approaches for managing chronic pain in humans,” they conclude.
Utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti. Chakula cha kisasa cha viwanda kina asili ya omega-3 na omega-6 fatty acids. Asidi hizi za mafuta ni viambishi vya oxylipins <unk> molekuli zinazohusika katika kudhibiti maumivu na uvimbe. Oxylipins inayotokana na omega-3 fatty acids huongeza maumivu ya kichwa na inaweza kusababisha migraine. Uchunguzi wa awali wa omega-3 kwa migraine haukufanikiwa. Watafiti wa Marekani waliamua kwamba vyakula vyenye mafuta ya omega-3 vinaweza kupunguza maumivu ya kichwa na kupunguza maumivu ya kichwa. Utafiti huo ulifanyika kwa kuzingatia wagonjwa 182 katika Chuo Kikuu cha North Carolina, Marekani (88% wanawake, umri wa wastani wa miaka 38) na maumivu ya kichwa ya migraine siku 5-20 kwa mwezi, ambao walipewa moja ya mlo mmoja kwa wiki 16. Kwa mfano, chakula cha kudhibiti kilikuwa na viwango vya kawaida vya asidi za mafuta za omega-3 na omega-6. Kwa mfano, katika mlo wa kawaida, chakula cha mchana kinaweza kuongeza ulaji wa asidi ya mafuta ya omega-3. Mmoja wao aliendelea kula omega-6 kama vile mlo wa kudhibiti, na mwingine alishusha ulaji wa omega-6 wakati huo huo. Wakati wa jaribio hilo, washiriki walipokea ushauri wa kawaida wa lishe na upatikanaji wa habari ya msaada mtandaoni. Pia walifanya jaribio la maumivu ya kichwa (HIT-6), swali linalochunguza athari za maumivu ya kichwa kwa ubora wa maisha. Mzunguko wa maumivu ya kichwa ulikadiriwa kila siku kwa kutumia kitabu cha kumbukumbu cha kielektroniki. Katika kipindi cha wiki 16, kila moja ya vyakula vya kuingilia vyakula viliongeza viwango vya 17-HDDH katika kundi la kudhibiti, na wakati alama za HIT-6 ziliboreshwa katika vikundi vyote viwili vya kuingilia, hazikuwa tofauti kwa kiasi kikubwa na kikundi cha kudhibiti. Hata hivyo, mzunguko wa maumivu ya kichwa ulipungua kwa kiasi kikubwa katika vikundi vyote viwili vya uingiliaji. Kwa mfano, chakula chenye omega-3 kilipunguza maumivu ya kichwa kwa saa 1.3 kwa siku na siku mbili kwa mwezi. Kwa wale waliokula vyakula vyenye omega-3 na omega-6 waliopunguza maumivu ya kichwa kwa saa 1.7 kwa siku na siku 4 kwa mwezi, na hivyo kuonesha faida ya kuongeza mafuta ya omega-6 katika chakula. Washiriki katika vikundi vya kuingilia pia waliripoti maumivu ya kichwa mafupi na yasiyo kali ikilinganishwa na wale katika kikundi cha kudhibiti. Utafiti huo ulikuwa wa ubora wa hali ya juu na umebuniwa vizuri, lakini watafiti wanaonyesha mapungufu fulani, kama vile ugumu wa wagonjwa kushikamana na lishe kali na ukweli kwamba washiriki wengi walikuwa wanawake wachanga, kwa hivyo matokeo hayawezi kutumika kwa watoto, watu wazima wazee, wanaume, au idadi nyingine ya watu. "Wakati mlo huo haukuboresha sana ubora wa maisha, ulisababisha kupunguzwa kwa kiasi kikubwa na kwa nguvu kwa mzunguko na ukali wa maumivu ya kichwa ikilinganishwa na mlo wa kudhibiti", wanaandika. <unk>Utafiti huu hutoa maonyesho ya kibaiolojia ya kuaminika kwamba maumivu yanaweza kutibiwa kupitia mabadiliko ya lishe yaliyolenga kwa wanadamu. Utafiti huo unaonyesha kuwa kuna sababu zinazohusisha asidi za mafuta n-3 na n-6 na kupunguza maumivu, na kufungua njia mpya za kudhibiti maumivu ya muda mrefu kwa wanadamu.