MIGRAINE patients tend to suffer in Ramazan even though there are some simple preventive measures that can be adopted to reduce the chances of having an attack of migraine.

Migraine is usually a moderate or severe headache felt as a throbbing pain on one side of the head. Many people also have symptoms such as feeling sick, having nausea and increased sensitivity to light or sound.

Migraine is a common health condition, affecting around one in five women and around one in 15 men. Headache-prone people tend to have odd attacks of headaches in which common pain-killers, once the fast is over, give them relief.

It has been established worldwide that attacks of migraine get triggered by diets that have high tyramine or fat contents. During Ramazan, there is a change in dietary pattern, with excessive intake of milk or dairy products, like yoghurt and cheese, as well as high-fat parathas, pakoras etc. Excessive intake of tea is also known to precipitate migraine attacks.

So, for migraine-prone people, the advice is simple: keep your diet simple which basically means keep it as ‘normal’ and ‘average’ as possible and avoid undue dietary indulgence. Infrequent and small deviations can always be managed though.

There are two misconceptions that need to be addressed as well. One, a drop in the blood glucose level during fasting does not precipitate a migraine attack. Two, the disturbed sleep pattern during the holy month is not a migraine-trigger.

Areeb Ahmed
Karachi

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2021