I suffered with migraines for years and years. They ended after a 5 day juice fast at a funky spa in Key West where I gave up smoking and the medications I was taking for the headaches. So I was pleased to read this.
Headaches may be good for your brain
Is it possible that suffering through years of migraine headaches actually might have a beneficial effect on the brain?
A provocative new study has raised that improbable prospect after finding that longtime, middle-aged migraine sufferers showed less cognitive decline and memory loss over a period of 12 years than a group of migraine-free adults.
Researchers can't explain what could be a silver lining in the agonizing cloud that is migraine, but it's possible that the physiological changes that accompany the headaches might protect brain cells over the long haul.
Beyond offering a modicum of solace to the 30 million migraine sufferers in the United States, the strange finding, if verified, could offer researchers new leads into ways to preserve memory in aging brains.
"This is really a surprise," said Bhupendra Khatri, director of the Center for Neurological Disorders at Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center. "This is going to stimulate a lot of research."
This means I should end up being absolutely brilliant in a few years... I've had migraines since I was about 5 years old. Heh.
Posted by: Teresa at April 27, 2007 6:09 PM