From Theresa Jones, Wolfenbüttel, Germany
Jessica Hamzelou draws attention to a Norwegian study that found that people being treated for diabetes turned out to be less likely to experience migraines (13 January, p 7). She reports researcher Ippazio Antonazzo proposing several possible explanations, including nerve damage caused by diabetes making it more difficult for a person to sense migraine pain, or some treatment normalising the activity of insulin, making migraines less likely.
I am a migraine sufferer. Many years ago, a scientific colleague and fellow sufferer advised me to take glucose as soon as the “aura” of an oncoming migraine is apparent. Over the years, I have followed her recommendation – with speedy results.
My daughter also successfully takes glucose when such symptoms arise. We consider that we get migraines .
It may be that many of the Norwegians with diabetes avoid migraine because they artificially maintain a constant and suitable blood glucose value. More research to examine this simpler explanation of the phenomenon might be interesting.
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