I can’t imagine life fraught with chronic migraine. Society doesn’t support the idea of a “cure;” that’s because migraine relief doesn’t focus on what matters.
All too often, migraine headache pain control is the goal. Or, even better, suppression of flare ups of headache with medications. This is what mainstream medicine focuses on and considers your treatment successful if one or both of these goals are obtained. Sure–they help to rule out the scary things like strokes, tumors and weird blood vessel formations, but these are very rarely the cause of headaches.
I have repeatedly stated again and again (I know–redundant, but I wanted to get the point across) that the problem with migraine headaches are not in the head, but rather a systemic problem affecting every aspect of the body and health. However, if we needed to focus on a single organ, the blood vessels and cardiovascular system would likely be the most important.
The research showing that migraineurs have problems with their blood vessels is quite plentiful:
- Migraine strongly linked with heart disease.
- Chronic migraine headaches linked with cervical artery dissection in the neck.
- Natural compounds known to protect the blood vessels can help with migraines.
- Chronic migraine sufferers have white matter changes in their brain–known to occur with blood vessels problems.
- Migraine sufferers had a 380% increased risk of having a stroke (arguably a blood vessel problem).
And these are just a few of the studies available. Overall, it seems pretty hard to deny that anyone with migraine headaches are having problems with their blood vessels. Here’s the kicker…
There is not a darn migraine medication out there that actually addresses the health of the blood vessels. In other words, migraine medications (of which, many are actually anti seizure medications) do not, in any way, shape or form, actually treat the migraine cause. They merely function by suppressing the pain.
You will never get better by using medications to address your headaches. Period.
Certainly, migraines do go away seemingly on their own, or after a course of medication, but the true answer likely came from some other change that occurred.
This particular article continues to support the importance of focusing on the blood vessels in the health of anyone who suffers from a migraine.
The researchers looked at aspects of vascular (blood vessel) health in migraineurs. Most notably, they looked at epithelial progenitor cells (EPCs). Think of the EPC are a little “fix it” cell that helps to keep your blood vessels healthy. Higher levels of EPCs have been shown to protect the heart.
Researchers also found that, with time, less and less EPCs were present. In other words, the longer a migraine progresses, the sicker the blood vessels become.
It doesn’t get more serious than that. It also means that, if your neurologist or primary care doctor who is treating your migraines has not address lifestyle changes geared towards improving the health of your blood vessels (such as those found here), it’s time to find a new doctor.
So what changes have you made that have given you migraine relief?