Migraine adds to hangover headaches: Study
POSTED October 19, 2009 - 16:46 | POSTED BY Jyoti Pal
Last edited by Harpreet Bhagrath on October 19, 2009 - 17:06
Michael Oshinsky, assistant professor of neurology at Thomas Jefferson University and a member of the Jefferson Headache Center team, conducted the research and was assisted by Christina Maxwell, a Ph.D. student in the Neuroscience program, Jefferson College of Graduate Studies.
Induced headaches
For the purpose of the study, the researchers induced headaches in rats by repeatedly stimulating, over weeks to months, the brain’s dura mater layer with an inflammatory mixture.
Dura mater is the outermost, toughest, and most fibrous of the three membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.
One group of rats was given oral doses of alcohol, comparable to one to two shots of liquor, after the induced headache. The control group of rats, in whom the headache was not induced, was also given similar oral doses of alcohol.
Migraine patients beware
Migraine headaches are normally linked to hypersensitivity to light, sound and light touch on the head and face.
The researchers measured the rats’ sensitivity to touch around the eye and monitored the change in pain threshold of the face resulting from the repeated dural stimulation.
They observed that the rats that were induced with headaches and then given alcohol initially felt little pain. However, this group suffered increased pain sensitivity later. Meanwhile, no changes were observed in the control group.
Michael Oshinsky said of the findings, "Our results suggest that dehydration or impurities in alcohol are not responsible for hangover headache. Since these rats were sufficiently hydrated and the alcohol they received contained no impurities, the alcohol itself or a metabolite must be causing the hangover-like headache."
“These data confirm the clinical observation that people with migraine are more susceptible to alcohol-induced headaches," Dr. Oshinsky added.
The researchers are now reportedly studying the mechanism for the initiation of the headache as well as the metabolites of alcohol that cause hangover.
Migraine is a neurological syndrome typified by altered bodily perceptions, relentless headaches, and queasiness. The typical migraine headache, which is unilateral and pulsating, lasts from 4 to 72 hours. The condition is more common to women than to men.
The findings of the present study will be presented in Chicago at ‘Neuroscience 2009’, the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
