Homocysteine and Migraines – What Does It Mean?

Headaches are very common and almost everyone has experienced one at one point in their life. They can be painful and disabling, which cuts into your focus, productivity, and quality of life. Headaches come in different types such as tension, cluster, and migraine. The migraine type headaches are the third most common disease in the world and effect about 14.7% of the worlds population. That’s around 1 in 7 people who will experience a debilitating headache that will put that person down for the count, locked up in a room with the lights off, and a trash can near by. It is not a pleasant way to spend your day.

When you have a migraine you look for any way to get rid of them. People have asked what’s the relationship of homocysteine to migraines after hearing about methylation problems in the body.

Homocysteine is an amino acid found in the blood, but if found in high amounts has been shown to cause inflammation leading to an increased chance of stroke or cardiovascular disease. Migraine headaches are severe throbbing or pounding headaches that usually occur on one side of the head. People may experience a sensitivity to light, sounds, and smells. Some experience nausea or vomiting. Some migraine patients experience what is called an aura before the onset. An aura is a visual disturbance, such as a blind spot or flashing light.

Homocysteines are a major player in chronic inflammation.

The question being studied is, “does an increase in homocysteine in the blood directly relate to an increase in migraines?” There have been a lot of studies to answer this question and the results appear to be conflicting. On one side, many studies show no significance between the two. On the other side, some do show significance that an increase of homocysteine in the blood does correlate to an increase in migraine headaches. There seems to be no sound conclusion when it come to levels in the blood.

However, a study out of Headache tested homocysteine levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the spine and showed a very significant increase. It showed that migraine patients with auras had a 376% increase in the CSF and patients without had a 41% increase. What this means is an increase of inflammation in the CSF for people with migraines.

What is Special About Cerebrospinal Fluid

CSF also acts an a cushion and protector of the nervous system. It should flow normally through out the system without being stagnant. In recent years, CSF has been identified as a fluid that helps to remove waste products from the brain’s normal metabolism, and that failure in CSF movement from things like lack of sleep may contribute to the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease.

Why Is CSF Important to Us?

Sometimes when a segment in the spine shifts out of place it can not only put pressure on the disc, nerves, and bloods vessels around that segment, but it can also effect the flow of CSF through that area. When this happens this can cause CSF in areas in the head and spine to be stagnant because a segment has shifted out of place affecting the normal flow. When the CSF is stagnant you can have a pooling where it can collect homocysteine causing inflammation.

As a structural chiropractor that focuses on the craniocervical junction, the interaction between the neck and cerebrospinal fluid is an important area  of interest. A study by the Upper Cervical Research Foundation showed that a correction of the atlas vertebra shows significant improvement in migraine symptoms and potential changes in venous drainage patterns. This allows things to function better, including the CSF to flow better.