About half of people with migraine disease turn to
non-medication treatments in an attempt to ease their
symptoms, new Otago research reveals.
A survey
conducted by researchers from the University of Otago,
Wellington – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, Pōneke, has just
been published in the Journal of Clinical
Medicine.
The Migraine in Aotearoa New Zealand survey
has examined the use of supplements and complementary
therapies by people in New Zealand with migraine
disease.
Participants were asked about supplements
such as magnesium, riboflavin (vitamin B2) and coenzyme Q10
and complementary therapies including acupuncture,
biofeedback, neuromodulation devices, meditation, yoga and
massage.
Co-author Dr Fiona Imlach, Senior Research
Fellow in the Department of Public Health and co-founder of
the Migraine Foundation, says many people with migraine
don’t take medication to prevent migraine attacks, but
there are non-pharmacological approaches that can
help.
“No previous research has looked at the use of
these approaches in Aotearoa, so it’s a new finding that
about half of the 530 survey respondents were currently
using a supplement and even more, 58 per cent, were using
complementary therapy.”
Although most
non-pharmacological treatments are considered safe or
low-risk, the quality of evidence for their effectiveness
can be low.
The survey focused on treatments that were
included in international guidelines on migraine management,
including those not easily accessed in New Zealand, such as
neuromodulation devices, that work by stimulating nerves in
order to change the way that pain signals in the brain are
processed.
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However, access to neuromodulation devices
is limited and costly, with previous distributors pulling
out of the New Zealand market, Dr Imlach
says.
“Neuromodulation devices and other therapies
could be beneficial for both patients and for workplaces, by
decreasing the number of days people are affected by
migraine, improving quality of life and people’s ability
to work.
“These approaches can also be a good option
for people who can’t or don’t want to take medication,
such as during pregnancy. So even though people said they
would like to try non-medication treatments as part of their
migraine management plan, they can be expensive and hard to
find information about.”
The survey also confirmed
there is no single approach to migraine prevention that is
universally effective, so people have to use trial and
error.
“For all of the treatments we asked about,
there were many people who had tried them but they didn’t
work or had side effects.
“There were also those who
hadn’t tried them before but wanted to. All of this speaks
to the huge need for more effective migraine treatments,
both medication and non-medication.
“New Zealand is
lagging behind other countries with regards to funding and
access to migraine-prevention medication and other
therapies.”
“In addition, much more research is
needed to understand the underlying pathophysiology of
migraine and identify alternative treatments for those who
continue to have frequent and severe migraine attacks
despite trying many therapies.”
Publication
details:
Use of Non-Pharmacological
Approaches for Migraine Treatment: Results from the Migraine
in Aotearoa New Zealand Survey
Authors: Dr Fiona Imlach,
Susan Garrett
Journal of Clinical Medicine
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14124023
You
can read more about the Migraine in Aotearoa New Zealand
survey here:
https://migrainefoundation.org.nz/migraine-in-nz/survey-2022-insights/
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