Children who frequently get migraines may have lower levels of certain vitamins and antioxidants in their blood, a new study suggests.
While it isn't yet clear if supplementation might help prevent migraines, research presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Headache Society in San Diego showed a significant portion of children, teenagers and young adults who suffer from migraines are mildly deficient in vitamin D, riboflavin and coenzyme Q10.
The findings have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
In the study, the researchers scanned a patient database of about 7,800 children, teens and young adults who had been seen at the researchers’ headache centre over an 18-year period.
They found 42 per cent of children with migraines had riboflavin levels that were at or below the level at which supplementation is recommended.
It showed 71 per cent of children with migraines had levels of CoQ10 that were at or below the levels at which a supplement is advised, and 91 per cent had vitamin D levels that were below that threshold.
Many of the patients were ultimately treated with both vitamin supplements and preventive migraine medications, so the researchers could not tell whether their migraine improvements were due to the vitamin supplements or the migraine medications.
