|
From The October 2001 Issue of Nutrition Science News
Preventing Headaches
by Anthony Almada
The abundance of prescription drugs that harness and manipulate the chemical message of serotonin (5-HT), derived from the amino acid L-tryptophan, underscores the role 5-HT has in the brain. An immediate precursor of 5-HT, called 5-hydroxy-tryptophan (5-HTP), holds promise for headache prevention. Because 5-HTP has a role in mediating pain and has easy access to the brain, researchers more than 15 years ago explored its potential for headache sufferers. They reported modest effects in reducing the frequency and severity of headaches.1
Researchers in a more recent eight-week study involving 78 chronic tension headache sufferers found modest reductions in the number of days without headaches.2 Headache frequency was cut in half during the two-week nonsupplemented assessment (washout) that followed the eight-week supplementation period. Although people taking prescription headache drugs often experience weight gain, the subjects on 5-HTP did not. Prevention is the key to 5-HTP's success, so it should not be taken as a "rescue remedy."
Anthony Almada is a nutritional and exercise biochemist and has collaborated on more than 50 university-based clinical trials. He is the co-founder of EAS and founder and chief scientific officer of IMAGINutrition.
References
1. De Benedittis G, R Massei. Serotonin precursors in chronic primary headache. A double-blind, cross-over study with L-5-hydroxytryptophan vs. placebo. J Neurosurg Sci 1985;29:239-48.
2. Fontes R. L-5-hydroxytryptophan in the prophylaxis of chronic tension-type headache: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Headache 2000;40:451-6.
|
