The Relationship Between Pain and Magnesium Levels Of Blood And Saliva in Patients With Migraine | 2003, Volume 9 - Issue 1

Yavuz ALTUNKAYNAK¹, Musa ÖZTÜRK¹, Yunus KARAKOÇ², Emine ALTUNKAYNAK³, Resul KARATAŞ¹, Sevim BAYBAŞ¹

¹Bakırköy Ruh ve Sinir Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, 2. Nöroloji Kliniği
²lstanbul Üniversitesi Cerrahpaşa Tıp Fakültesi Biofizik Ana Bilim Dalı
³Taksim Devlet Hastanesi Biokimya ve Klinik Biokimya Bölümü

Keywords: Magnesium, Migraine, Pathophysiology, Migraine prophylaxis

Abstract

The possible role of magnesium (Mg) on migraine pathophysiology has been the subjectof many studies. Low levels of Mg is known to be an important factor in pain formation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relation between blood and salivary Mg levels and occurrence of pain in migraine patients. 40 migraine patients were diagnosed according to IHS classification 1988 and 30 control subjects with no pain symptoms were included in this study. Mg levels were measured by atomic absorption spectrometer. Salivary Mg levels were lower in patient group during both initial and attack periods, but this finding was not related to pain characteristics. The initial and attack blood Mg levels were lower prominently in patients with a long history of disease. A direct relationshipbetween hypomagnesemia duration and severity of pain was observed. These results showed that Mg replacement therapy can be an alternative in migraine prophylaxis.