Eat bananas to beat migraine
Munching on a banana every couple of hours is a miracle cure, says a study.
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) - A mother of two from West Sussex, who suffered from migraines that left her bed ridden for days at a time for almost 20 years, discovered that munching on a banana every couple of hours was a miracle cure.
Lisa Poyner, 38, from Worthing, told a news daily that she doesn`t like bananas very much, but eating every couple of hours is the only thing that helps her lead a normal life.
She said that she had been prescribed all kinds of medication before, but nothing ever worked as well eating bananas every couple of hours.
Poyner said that bananas are handy as they`re healthy, and good sustenance, so if she feels an attack is about to strike, she just grabs one straight away.
Earlier, watchdog National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) had warned that taking pain-killers regularly can reduce their effectiveness and make the brain more sensitive to pain and prone to further headaches.
Those who take pills such as aspirin, paracetamol or ibuprofen for at least ten days a month over three months are said to be at particular risk of ‘medication over-use headaches’, as they’re called.
NICE expressed concern that doctors are often not diagnosing the type of pain or offering the best treatment.
So, what is the most effective way to treat a headache? We talked to the experts...
Often a tablet isn’t what people need, says consultant neurologist Dr Nick Silver, of the NHS Walton Centre for Neuroscience and Neurosurgery in Liverpool.
This is because your headache is likely to be a migraine — albeit in a mild form.
To work out if you’re a secret migraine sufferer, he suggests recording how many crystal clear, headache-free days you have each month — without any throbbing, aching, tension, fogginess or dizziness.
If you have 25 or more, painkillers should help, as you have an occasional problem.
Paracetamol and ibuprofen are effective, as is soluble aspirin, which is absorbed faster.
If you have fewer than 25, it’s more likely you’re a migraine sufferer without knowing it and need more focused treatment.
Dr Silver says: ‘You may get a bad head for five days due to caffeine withdrawal, but after that you will have fewer headaches.’
Another common trigger is cheese.
But sometimes a desire for chocolate or cheese may actually be a craving for sugar — which can be a sign of an impending headache, says Dr Andy Dowson, director of headache services at King’s College Hospital, London.
He suggests eating carbohydrates, such as a banana, which will stave off symptoms by keeping blood sugar levels even.
Dr Dowson points out that avoiding certain foods isn’t enough to prevent the attacks as trigger factors can build up over time and work in combination to cause a migraine.
So, a glass of wine, which can be a trigger for some, may not be a problem for you, but drinking after a stressful day or sleepless night may cause an attack.
Other preventative tactics include regular meals to maintain your blood sugar level, and drinking two to three litres of fluid a day to avoid dehydration (which makes brain tissue shrink, causing pain).
And get up at the same time every day — migraines are often triggered by disruption in routine.
Migraines used to be referred to as ‘weekend headaches’ because they often hit on weekend mornings.
Dr Dowson says: ‘Changing your sleep pattern suddenly has a dramatic effect on the hypothalamus, the area in the brain that is responsible for balancing hormones; this triggers a headache.’
Dr Silver advises sleeping in a dark room to increase production of the sleep hormone melatonin.
Avoid watching TV in bed, as it can over-stimulate the brain. If none of this helps, speak to your GP about migraine-prevention medication.
