Stop Migraine Headaches With Feverfew - By: Christian Nilson

Feverfew is a medicinal herb most commonly used in the treatment and prevention of migraine headaches. Migraines are very common and can be difficult to treat. Because conventional treatments have been unsuccessful for so many people suffering from migraines, many alternative treatments have been explored. Studies have been conducted and have proven what many herbalists already knew: Feverfew is the most successful form of alternative treatment for migraines and a great tool for preventing migraine headaches.

Even though feverfew had been used a long time for treating headaches, the popularity of the herb declined with the advent of modern medicine. Feverfew has resurged into medical interest after the wife of a doctor who worked for the British National Coal Board had been suffering from migraine headaches and was told by a coal miner to try chewing on a couple of feverfew leaves a day. The wife noticed improvement after trying the herb, with fewer and less severe migraines. Her husband then asked a migraine specialist in London to test feverfew, with the results of several studies showing it to be an effective treatment.

The specialist agreed to test the herb because he had many patients who had been suffering from migraines for a long time and had for years tried to find a successful treatment. In the beginning, he tried the herbal remedy on only ten of his patients. The results of this trial were so promising that it led to a study of another 270 patients, with seventy percent reporting that they noticed a significant improvement when taking feverfew for their migraine pain.

After this, a group of researchers in the City of London Migraine Clinic conducted a study, which was reported in the British Medical Journal, investigating 17 patients who had already been using feverfew for at least three months. All patients were asked to stop using feverfew as their treatment method. Eight patients were given a capsule of feverfew, and the other nine were given a placebo.

Those patients that were given a placebo noticed an increase in frequency and severity of their migraine headaches, while those that were given feverfew capsules had no increase in frequency or severity of their headaches. Many other studies have been done to further test the effects of feverfew. This has led to the belief that feverfew is effective in the prevention of migraines. In all studies there were always definite improvements in the group that used feverfew. Additionally, no serious side-effects appeared to exist.

Feverfew seems to have similar properties as anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen. Also, the parthenolide that is found in feverfew is the main inhibitor for the formation of compounds that causes inflammation. Parthenolide reduces the secretory activity of blood platelets and white blood cells. This is important because migraines are thought to be associated with abnormal platelet behavior, as they are responsible for the release of serotonin, which constricts blood vessels and leads to migraine headache.

Feverfew is now recognized by the Canadian and British governments as a migraine treatment and is often prescribed by physicians. The interest among doctors and pharmacists in herbal remedies is beginning to increase, especially since patients are becoming more interested in natural methods of healing.

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