Headaches and Quality of Life
Could your headache give you a stomachache? Possibly! Headaches can be caused by many things: Stress, allergies, and medications are just a few. Your diet is another. Headaches can range from mild to depilating. When they are combined with other stomach problems, it only compounds the discomfort.
Over a period of two years, a total of 51,383 people were surveyed in the Head-HUNT Study. 43,782 people answered questions about stomach problems such as nausea, reflux, diarrhea and constipation. The findings showed that those with tummy troubles also suffered from more headaches. Interesting, huh? Where do you lie with this?
In a different study about chronic frequent headaches, combined with other chronic issues, including gastrointestinal, researchers were looking to see how these headaches affect overall quality of life. They found that people with chronic frequent headaches had a much lower quality of life than those with infrequent headaches. Well, again, if you have frequent headaches, you know how that affects your life!
What does this mean for you?
First of all, researchers will continue to study the question of headaches. But there are a couple comments about the studies I first want to make, then I will comment on a trend in general.
When you really think about it, if you have frequent headaches, it pretty much makes you feel lousy all over. And, if that headache is a migraine, for those of you who ever HAD a migraine, you probably chuckled reading that increased headaches increases tummy troubles. Yea, how many times have you sat next to the toilet in the midst of a migraine, waiting for something to come up or go out??? It’s almost as if it would flush the pain away!
The second study is another ‘duh’ conclusion. Need I say more? Neither concluded much.
So, what DOES this mean for you? First of all, there is definitely a link between migraines and the foods we eat. I cannot eat barley. If I do, I can be guaranteed I will wake up with a migraine! I have been migraine free for years, since discovering this. For anyone suffering from regular migraines, I strongly suggest you consider delayed food sensitivies. Today there is a specific blood test to help indentify foods that could be causing your migraine. If you go to my Resources page on www.megfit.com,you will find a dietitian who specializes in testing and counseling for this type of condition.
But what if your headaches are not migraines? If you suffer from ongoing headaches and don’t know the reason, be sure to get them checked out. They could be caused by something as simple as allergies to environmental conditions, or you could suffer from ongoing, low-grade sinus infections. None are fun and no one should continue to suffer. There is no doubt headaches affect quality of life.
Finally, your diet and lifestyle habits can influence headaches! Look at what you eat and drink regularly. Most people are already aware of the foods or drink they should cut down. Does that mean you?
To read the abstract of the Head-HUNT study, go to:
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-2982.2007.01486.x
To read the abstract of the quality of life study, go to:
http://tinyurl.com/3crvwm
Over a period of two years, a total of 51,383 people were surveyed in the Head-HUNT Study. 43,782 people answered questions about stomach problems such as nausea, reflux, diarrhea and constipation. The findings showed that those with tummy troubles also suffered from more headaches. Interesting, huh? Where do you lie with this?
In a different study about chronic frequent headaches, combined with other chronic issues, including gastrointestinal, researchers were looking to see how these headaches affect overall quality of life. They found that people with chronic frequent headaches had a much lower quality of life than those with infrequent headaches. Well, again, if you have frequent headaches, you know how that affects your life!
What does this mean for you?
First of all, researchers will continue to study the question of headaches. But there are a couple comments about the studies I first want to make, then I will comment on a trend in general.
When you really think about it, if you have frequent headaches, it pretty much makes you feel lousy all over. And, if that headache is a migraine, for those of you who ever HAD a migraine, you probably chuckled reading that increased headaches increases tummy troubles. Yea, how many times have you sat next to the toilet in the midst of a migraine, waiting for something to come up or go out??? It’s almost as if it would flush the pain away!
The second study is another ‘duh’ conclusion. Need I say more? Neither concluded much.
So, what DOES this mean for you? First of all, there is definitely a link between migraines and the foods we eat. I cannot eat barley. If I do, I can be guaranteed I will wake up with a migraine! I have been migraine free for years, since discovering this. For anyone suffering from regular migraines, I strongly suggest you consider delayed food sensitivies. Today there is a specific blood test to help indentify foods that could be causing your migraine. If you go to my Resources page on www.megfit.com,you will find a dietitian who specializes in testing and counseling for this type of condition.
But what if your headaches are not migraines? If you suffer from ongoing headaches and don’t know the reason, be sure to get them checked out. They could be caused by something as simple as allergies to environmental conditions, or you could suffer from ongoing, low-grade sinus infections. None are fun and no one should continue to suffer. There is no doubt headaches affect quality of life.
Finally, your diet and lifestyle habits can influence headaches! Look at what you eat and drink regularly. Most people are already aware of the foods or drink they should cut down. Does that mean you?
To read the abstract of the Head-HUNT study, go to:
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-2982.2007.01486.x
To read the abstract of the quality of life study, go to:
http://tinyurl.com/3crvwm
posted by Margie Geiser, MBA, RD, NSCA-CPT at
6:12 AM
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