Researchers say medications for migraine, diet and behavior changes may play a role in helping women with migraine protect their memory. The findings are published in the April 24, 2007, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
For the community based study, 1,448 women, of which 204 had migraine, underwent a series of cognitive tests beginning in 1993 and again approximately 12 years later.
The study found while women with migraine performed worse on cognitive tests, such as word recall, at the beginning of the study, their performance declined 17 percent less over time than women without migraine. Women over age 50 with migraine showed the least amount of cognitive decline on a test used to assess cognitive functioning.
"Some medications for migraine headaches, such as ibuprofen, which may have a protective effect on memory, may be partially responsible for our findings, but it's unlikely to explain this association given we adjusted for this possibility in our study and the medications showed no indication of a significant protective effect," said study author Amanda Kalaydjian, PhD, MS, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.
Dr. Kalaydjian says another factor that needs to be explored is the possibility that women with migraine may change their diet or behavior in some way that might improve cognition. "For example, alternative treatment for migraine includes adequate sleep, as well as behavioral and relaxation techniques, and a reduction in caffeine," said Dr. Kalaydjian.
"Despite these theories, it seems more likely that there may be some underlying biological mechanism, such as changes in blood vessels or underlying differences in brain activity, which results in decreased cognitive decline over time," said Dr. Kalaydjian. "More research is needed to fully understand how migraine affects cognition."
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Prof Arne Astrup, president of the International Association for the Study of Obesity and one of the research collaborators, said their findings demonstrated that eating at fast food chains was a lottery when it came to health. We need everyone to contribute to improve diets and help tackle obesity so there is a fundamental challenge to the fast food industry to improve its products and get rid of harmful trans-fats which they have shown they can easily do in Denmark and elsewhere. To continue selling foods with high levels of trans-fats in different countries shows a disregard for customers ™ health and suggests that these companies will only really respond when there are regulations as tough as we have in Denmark. added Prof Astrup.
The researchers ™ comments were prepared as part of a debate on fast food, with a counterpoint Fast food: friendly, by S. Rice, EJ McAllister, and NV Dhurandhar, who argue that while fast food is routinely blamed for the obesity epidemic, and consequentially excluded from professional dietary recommendations, several groups including those on low incomes depend on fast food as an important source of meals. They looked at how imaginative selection ™ from a daily fast food menu could reduce the potentially unfavourable nutrient composition, suggesting that a fresh look at the role of fast food may enable its inclusion in meal planning for those who depend on it out of necessity. They calculated that the cost of their selected menu would be US$20 a day.
The papers are to be published in the International Journal of Obesity, available online on: www.nature/ijo
Commenting on the issue, Prof Philip James, chair of the International Obesity TaskForce and President-elect of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, said experts had been worried about the role of trans fats for decades and highlighted their concerns in the British government Chief Medical Officer ™s Committee report 'Diet and Cardiovascular Disease' in 1984.
It was recommended then that these industrially produced fats should be removed from the food chain. There was a steady stream of papers showing how these fats interfered with the normal metabolism of the essential oils and altered cholesterol blood levels disadvantageously, so it is alarming that the food industry has paid so little attention to this and still includes trans fats in such astonishingly great amounts in fast foods.
The Danish legislation has virtually eliminated trans fat from their food supply, but has only recently had the threat of an EU complaint about this eased. It would be useful to see this extended throughout the European Union to protect consumers from a totally unnecessary and harmful fat. The Danish experience demonstrates clearly that this can be achieved with no effect on food availability or price, Prof James added.
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