Method of Precipitating and Preventing Some Migraine Attacks

Abstract

We have precipitated attacks of migraine in 6 out of 12 subjects by fasting from 10 p.m. one evening until 5 p.m. the following afternoon. Awareness in the head became apparent in the majority between 9 a.m. to 12 noon, which changed to a generalized or localized ache within the next hour or two, and some hours later developed into a throbbing pain accompanied by pallor, nausea or vomiting, and photophobia. In addition two volunteeers had a headache in the evening after a light meal, and a third during the next day. We propose that some patients have some of their attacks of migraine fired off by missing a meal, and that this is related to a low blood sugar, which must persist in that individual for a certain length of time to cause a headache. How this affects the blood vessels of the head and meninges requires further elucidation, as does the undue susceptibility of migraine sufferers to their complaint. © 1966, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.