There may be a correlation between celiac disease, gluten sensitivity and migraine headaches. Research published in the Russian journal, Zhurnal Nevrologii i Psikhiatrii Imeni SS, Korsakova (2015;115(8):13-7), looked at the incidence of migraine headaches in 200 patients with celiac disease and compared them to a control group of 100 patients with GERD, but without celiac disease.
All of the subjects kept a headache diary for three months prior to the start of the study and for six months during the study, while on a gluten-free diet. Four times more patients with celiac disease suffered from migraines compared to the control group. Also, in the group with celiac disease, migraine attacks were 2.5 times more frequent than in the control group, but the duration of the attacks was shorter. The migraine attacks (measured by the Visual Analog Scale) were less intense, 55% in average, and had a later onset. The attacks were more frequent in the celiac disease patients who were older than 50.
The attacks disappeared in 25% of patients with migraine syndrome who were on the gluten-free diet and the reduction in the intensity and/or frequency of attacks was observed in 38% of patients. The researchers noted a clear association between migraine syndrome and celiac disease and the effectiveness of a gluten-free diet in the treatment of migraine symptoms. Earlier research has linked wheat consumption to some headaches.
