- Home
- Medical news & Guidelines
- Anesthesiology
- Cardiology and CTVS
- Critical Care
- Dentistry
- Dermatology
- Diabetes and Endocrinology
- ENT
- Gastroenterology
- Medicine
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Obstretics-Gynaecology
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedics
- Pediatrics-Neonatology
- Psychiatry
- Pulmonology
- Radiology
- Surgery
- Urology
- Laboratory Medicine
- Diet
- Nursing
- Paramedical
- Physiotherapy
- Health news
- AYUSH
- State News
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Andhra Pradesh
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Bihar
- Chandigarh
- Chattisgarh
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli
- Daman and Diu
- Delhi
- Goa
- Gujarat
- Haryana
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu & Kashmir
- Jharkhand
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Ladakh
- Lakshadweep
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- Odisha
- Puducherry
- Punjab
- Rajasthan
- Sikkim
- Tamil Nadu
- Telangana
- Tripura
- Uttar Pradesh
- Uttrakhand
- West Bengal
- Medical Education
- Industry
Diet rich in Omega-3 and low in Omega-6 fatty acids helps reduce migraine headaches: BMJ
![Diet rich in Omega-3 and low in Omega-6 fatty acids helps reduce migraine headaches: BMJ Diet rich in Omega-3 and low in Omega-6 fatty acids helps reduce migraine headaches: BMJ](https://medicaldialogues.in/h-upload/2021/08/05/750x450_158605-image.webp)
Dietary alteration of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids help achieve biological impact as well as reduces the frequency and severity of migraine headaches but fails to improve the quality of life in patients, suggests a study published in the BMJ.
In the instant study, researchers evaluated the effect of different levels of dietary omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids on migraine. While Omega-3 fatty acids are thought to be anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive, omega-6 fatty acids are pro-inflammatory.The study was conducted by a group of researchers from U.S.A to determine whether dietary interventions that increase Omega-3 fatty acids with and without reduction in Omega-6 linoleic acid can alter circulating lipid mediators implicated in headache pathogenesis, and decrease headache in adults with migraine.
The researchers a total of 182 participants with migraines on 5-20 days per month. Following which they performed a three-arm, parallel-group, randomized, modified double-blind, controlled trial in the academic medical center in the United States for over 16 weeks.
All participants received foods accounting for two-thirds of daily food energy and continued usual care. The authors designed three diets designed with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and linoleic acid altered as controlled variables:
- H3 diet (n=61)—increase EPA+DHA to 1.5 g/day and maintain linoleic acid at around 7% of energy
- H3-L6 diet (n=61)—increase n-3 EPA+DHA to 1.5 g/day and decrease linoleic acid to ≤1.8% of energy
- The Control diet (n=60)—maintain EPA+DHA at <150 mg/day and linoleic acid at around 7% of energy.
The primary endpoints (week 16) were the antinociceptive mediator 17-hydroxydocosahexaenoic acid (17-HDHA) in blood and the headache impact test (HIT-6), a six-item questionnaire assessing headache impact on quality of life.
The results of the study are as follows:
- In intention-to-treat analyses the H3-L6 and H3 diets increased circulating 17-HDHA (log ng/mL) compared with the control diet.
- The observed improvement in HIT-6 scores in the H3-L6 and H3 groups were not statistically significant.
- Compared with the control diet, the H3-L6 and H3 diets decreased total headache hours per day moderate to severe headache hours per day, and headache days per month.
- The H3-L6 diet decreased headache days per month more than the H3 diet, suggesting an additional benefit from lowering dietary linoleic acid.
- The H3-L6 and H3 diets altered n-3 and n-6 fatty acids and several of their nociceptive oxylipin derivatives in plasma, serum, erythrocytes, or immune cells, but did not alter classic headache mediator's calcitonin gene-related peptide and prostaglandin E2.
Thus, the researchers concluded that the H3-L6 and H3 interventions altered bioactive mediators implicated in headache pathogenesis and decreased frequency and severity of headaches, but did not significantly improve quality of life.
Reference:
Dietary alteration of n-3 and n-6 fatty acids for headache reduction in adults with migraine: a randomized controlled trial
Dr. Shravani Dali has completed her BDS from Pravara institute of medical sciences, loni. Following which she extensively worked in the healthcare sector for 2+ years. She has been actively involved in writing blogs in field of health and wellness. Currently she is pursuing her Masters of public health-health administration from Tata institute of social sciences. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in.
Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: editorial@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751