Meditation is helpful to people suffering from migraine attacks, a new research shows.
According to WebMD, migraine affects 28 million Americans and around 20 percent of children and adolescents experience severe headaches.
Although what causes migraine is not known, a common theory states that various triggers lead to abnormal brain activity that results in changes in the blood vessels in the brain. This is called the neurovascular theory. Even genetics are to be blamed for migraines. Certain forms of migraines are linked to inherited abnormalities in different parts of the brain.
The current study with small number of participants examined the safety, feasibility and effects of standardized meditation and yoga intervention called mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) in adults with migraines.
The benefits of meditation on health have been widely documented. Various researches have shown that meditation is good for people with depression and other mental problems.
For the study, 19 adults were placed in two groups with 10 receiving the MBSR intervention and nine receiving standard medical care.
The participants attended eight weekly classes to learn MBSR techniques and were told to practice 45 minutes on their own at least five days per week. "We found that MBSR participants had trends of fewer migraines that were less severe," Rebecca Erwin Wells, an assistant professor of neurology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Centre in North Carolina, said in a press release.
Researchers also found that the secondary effects of meditation reduced the duration of headaches and were less disabling. Moreover, the participants experienced improved mindfulness and self-efficacy - a sense of personal control over migraine pain. "In addition, there were no adverse events and excellent adherence," Wells said.
Overall, the MBSR participants had 1.4 fewer migraines per month that were less severe. "MBSR is a safe and feasible therapy for adults with migraines. Although the sample size of this pilot study was small, secondary outcomes demonstrated this intervention had a beneficial effect on headache duration, disability, self-efficacy and mindfulness," researchers concluded.
The paper was published online in the journal Headache.
