CDC works 24/7 to protect America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign and in the U.S. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are chronic or acute, curable or preventable, human error or deliberate attack, CDC fights disease and supports communities and citizens to do the same. ||||| Migraines are an unfortunately common occurrence for many women — we're around three times more likely than men to have them, which is extremely not cool. Even less cool is that experts still don't know very much about why they happen (or even how they happen). According to new research, though, one possible cause of migraines may be bacteria in your mouth.For the study , published online today in the journal mSystems, researchers used data from the American Gut Project to analyze 172 samples of bacteria taken from participants' mouths — and 1,996 taken from their poop. All participants had previously taken a survey about any health issues, including migraines.They found a couple of significant differences between the bacteria from participants with migraines and those without — and the biggest differences were actually in the bacteria that came from their mouths.Specifically, people with migraines tended to have more bacteria that process nitrates, compounds found in many foods (e.g. leafy vegetables and processed meats). Normally, those nitrates eventually get turned into nitric oxide — which can be good for your heart health , but which has also previously been linked to migraines . So, if migraine sufferers have more nitrate-processing bacteria, those could be fueling the creation of more nitric oxide and triggering those hellish headaches."There is this idea out there that certain foods trigger migraines — chocolate, wine, and especially foods containing nitrates," said the study's first author Antonio Gonzalez in a press release . "We thought that perhaps there are connections between what people are eating, their microbiomes, and their experiences with migraines."Although this study does show an association between larger amounts of those nitrate-related bacteria and migraines, it doesn't prove that one necessarily causes the other. The researchers say the next step will be to correlate specific types of migraines with levels of those bacteria to nail down the ways in which they're connected.For now, though, we wouldn't suggest trying to get rid of those bacteria in an effort to help your headaches; they exist within the complex, balanced ecosystem of your mouth, which is there for a reason. But if you're one of those unfortunate few who find that meals trigger your migraines, this study might at least help explain why. ||||| Research shows sufferers have higher levels of bacteria involved in processing nitrates, and could explain why some foods appear to act as migraine triggers 
 
 Migraine sufferers have a different mix of gut bacteria that could make them more sensitive to certain foods, scientists have found. 
 
 The study offers a potential explanation for why some people are more susceptible to debilitating headaches and why some foods appear to act as triggers for migraines. 
 
 The research showed that migraine sufferers had higher levels of bacteria that are known to be involved in processing nitrates, which are typically found in processed meats, leafy vegetables and some wines. 
 
 The latest findings raise the possibility that migraines could be triggered when nitrates in food are broken down more efficiently, causing vessels in the brain and scalp to dilate. 
 
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 Antonio Gonzalez, a programmer analyst at the University of California San Diego and the study’s first author, said: “There is this idea out there that certain foods trigger migraines - chocolate, wine and especially foods containing nitrates. We thought that perhaps there are connections between what people are eating, their microbiomes and their experiences with migraines.” 
 
 When nitrates in food are broken down by bacteria in the mouth and gut they are eventually converted into nitric oxide in the blood stream, a chemical that dilates blood vessels and can aid cardiovascular health by boosting circulation. 
 
 However, around four in five cardiac patients who take nitrate-containing drugs for chest pain or heart failure report severe headaches as a side effect. 
 
 
 
 Dr Brendan Davies, a consultant neurologist at the University Hospitals of North Midlands and a trustee of the Migraine Trust, said the idea of gut bacteria playing a role in migraine was medically plausible. “There’s something called a hot dog headache, where nitrates are suspected to be involved,” he said. “This is interesting work, but would need to be confirmed.” 
 
 
 
 The study, published on Tuesday in the journal mSystems, sequenced bacteria found in 172 oral samples and 1,996 faecal samples from healthy participants, who had also reported whether they were affected by migraines. 
 
 In both oral and faecal samples, people with migraines had slightly higher levels of bacteria linked to breaking down nitrates. 
 
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 Around one in seven people suffer from migraines, with the majority having an attack more than once a month and about half being severely affected when they get a migraine. Symptoms typically involve a throbbing headache, nausea and lethargy. Some people also experience a visual aura, which appears as shimmering light in the peripheral vision. 
 
 Diet, stress and lack of sleep are all known to be triggers, and hormones are also thought to play a role - migraine affects three times as many women as men. 
 
 Chocolate is sometimes cited as a migraine trigger, but previous research suggests that often people crave sweet food during a preparatory phase of the migraine before symptoms have started. That is, you want to eat chocolate because you’re about to get a migraine, rather than chocolate being the cause. 
 
 The scientists are now planning a controlled diet study of migraine sufferers to see whether nitric oxide levels in the bloodstream are linked to migraine attacks. 
 
 In the future, the researchers said, it might be possible to “have a magical probiotic mouthwash” that would alter the balance of bacteria to help prevent migraines. 
 
 For now, though, “If you suspect that nitrates are causing you migraines, you should try to avoid them in your diet,” said Gonzalez.
– Certain foods like chocolate, wine, and processed meats have long been linked to migraines, and while nitrates in those foods are often seen as the culprit, it's not entirely clear why some people are more susceptible to ensuing headaches than others, reports Quartz. Now scientists are reporting in the journal mSystems that, thanks to an analysis of 2,200 people participating in the American Gut Project, they've found that people with migraines tend to have more oral bacteria that process nitrates, reports Refinery29. This means that people suffering from migraines could be creating more nitric oxide, which has been linked to migraines, as they process those nitrates. Scientists next plan to study the diets of people with migraines to look for links between nitric oxide levels in their blood and migraines, which would help confirm that nitrate-processing oral bacteria are behind the headaches. If that's true, we could eventually see a "magical probiotic mouthwash" that helps reshape oral bacteria to prevent migraines, reports the Guardian. In the meantime, researchers say, people who suspect that nitrates are behind their migraines should try to avoid them when possible—which could be difficult, considering they're also present in leafy greens. (The source of this man's headache was highly unusual, and more than a little gross.)