A small observational study out of Rhode Island showed that weight loss was associated with less frequency and intensity of migraine headaches in obese subjects.
24 severely obese women, who suffered from migraines, were assessed before and 6 months after undergoing bariatric surgery. Their mean body mass index (BMI) before and 6 months after surgery was 46.6 and 34.6, respectively.
Nearly half (46%) of the subjects experienced at least a 50% reduction in their headache frequency, this was despite the fact that nearly 70% of these subjects were still considered obese. This finding was also regardless of the type of weight loss surgery the patient had; 58% of the patients had the LapBand.
Weight loss has yet to be proven to improve migraines, but they think it definitively has an effect.
Their findings were published March 29 in Neurology.
