Changing Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fat Intake may help with Chronic Headaches

by | Jan 12, 2016 | 2013, Brain Health, Headaches, Omega - 3

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Supplementation with omega-3 is associated with a 12.3% decrease in headache severity.

It is estimated that 10 million American adults suffer from “chronic daily headache”, defined as having a headache for at least 4 hours per day, at least 15 days per month for at least 3 months and account for 40% of patients presenting with headache complaints to medical doctors (1, 2). Chronic daily headaches include both migraines and tension headaches, with lost productivity and healthcare costs reaching billions of dollars per year (3, 4).

Current approaches to treating chronic daily headaches consist mostly of medications that usually provide only temporary relief and come with significant side effects (5, 6, 7) including an impaired quality of life (8). Now a new study (9) suggests that changing intakes of both omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids may be an effective way to help with headaches.

The study involved 28 men and 28 women aged 38 to 54 who were suffering from headaches at least 4 hours per day and at least 15 days per month for at least 3 months and a total of at least 2 years. They recorded their headache severity/frequency and medication use in a headache diary for 4 weeks (the “pre-intervention phase”) and randomized into two groups:

  • High-omega-3-low-omega-6 (H3-L6) group = 28 patients
  • Low-omega-6 where they consumed = 28 patients

When discussing the definition of “low-omega-6” and “high-omega-3” diets, the researchers did not give specific intakes of omega-3 and omega-6 fats but cited previous research on American diets (10) and what other studies have considered “low” and “high” for their diets (11). Blood samples were recorded after the initial 4-week pre-intervention phase and at weeks 4, 8, and 12 of the study.

To measure headache severity during the study, the researchers used the Headache Impact Test (12), a commonly used measure of headache-related disability (13). In addition, participants were instructed to complete a daily Headache Diary (14).

At the end of the study, the researchers stated all subjects had reached “low omega-6” status by having blood levels of omega-6 fats to be 22.5% in the “high-omega-3-low-omega-6” group and 23.6% in the “low-omega-6” group (p < 0.001). Those in the “high-omega-3” group had achieved proper blood levels at 8.5% of EPA + DHA (p < 0.001).

Compared to the low-omega-6 group, those in the high-omega-3-low-omega-6 group experienced statistically significant improvement across 4 different measurements of headache severity:

  • A 12.3% decrease in the Headache Impact Test (61 to 53.5) compared to a 3.5% decrease in the low-omega-6 group (60.6 to 58.5) (p < 0.001)
  • A 38.3% decrease in headache days per month (23.3 to 14.5) compared to a 18.2% decrease in the low-omega-6 group (23.2 to 19.0) (p = 0.02)
  • A 45.1% decrease in headache hours per day (10.2 to 5.6) compared to a 12.3% decrease in the low-omega-6 group (9.8 to 8.6) (p = 0.01)
  • A 42.5% decrease in the probability of experiencing a “Severe Headache Day” (9 defined as at last 8 hours of mild headache or any moderate or severe headache = 66 to 38% probability) compared to a 2.1% decrease in the low-omega-6 group (68 to 61%) (p = 0.02)

For the researchers, “Targeted dietary manipulation of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids reduced pain and improved quality of life in this population with chronic headaches, and could represent a novel strategy for treating chronic pain in general.”

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com

Source: Ramsden, Christopher E., et al. “Targeted alteration of dietary n-3 and n-6 fatty acids for the treatment of chronic headaches: a randomized trial.” PAIN® 154.11 (2013): 2441-2451.

© 2015 International Association for the Study of Pain

Posted April 24, 2014.

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