Migraine improvement during short lasting ketogenesis: a proof-of-concept study
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Ketogenesis is a physiological phenomenon due to starvation or a ketogenic diet (KD), a drastic restricted carbohydrate dietary regimen that induces lipid metabolism and ketone body synthesis. Two patients whose migraines disappeared only during, and not outside, cycles of very-low-calorie KD performed to reduce their weight were recently observed. To confirm our observation, in a dietitian clinical setting two parallel groups of migraineurs, one receiving a 1-month very-low-calorie KD prescription followed by a 5-month standard low-calorie diet (SD) and the other a 6-month SD, were followed.
METHODS: Ninety-six overweight female migraineurs were enrolled in a diet clinic and blindly received a KD (n = 45) or an SD (n = 51) prescription. Mean monthly attack frequency, number of days with headaches and tablet intake were assessed before and 1, 2, 3 and 6 months after diet initiation.
RESULTS: In the KD group, the baseline attack frequency (2.9 attacks per month), number of days with headaches (5.11 days per month) and tablet intake (4.91 doses per month) were significantly reduced after the first month of diet (respectively 0.71, 0.91, 0.51; overall, KD versus baseline, P < 0.0001). During the transition period (first versus second month), the KD group showed a transient worsening of each clinical headache variable (respectively 2.60, 3.60, 3.07), despite being improved compared with baseline, with continuous improvement up to month 6 (respectively…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a cohort study, done in people. Its evidence level is 3 of 5 (Moderate · trial / cohort / secondary analysis). Trials without a large randomized design, cohorts and secondary analyses give moderate evidence. Reported size: 51 participants or records.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Calcium Ions in the Physiology and Pathology of the Central Nervous System
- AI-powered in silico twins: redefining precision medicine through simulation, personalization, and predictive healthcare
- In silico functional, structural and pathogenicity analysis of missense single nucleotide polymorphisms in human MCM6 gene
- In Silico drug repurposing pipeline using deep learning and structure based approaches in epilepsy
- Targeting serotonin receptors with phytochemicals – an in-silico study
- In silico exploration of anti-prostate cancer compounds from differential expressed genes
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.