I was a long-time migraine suffer, and I couldn’t really put my finger around what actually was the trigger. Sometimes I thought it was caffeine or bright lights but on occasion migraines would come out of no where at random times.
I happened to do a stool test to look for pathogens in 2008 when I was alerted that I had a bacterium called helicobacter pylori or h.pylori for short. This little critter is excellent at creating a home for himself in the human stomach, esophagus, and upper small intestine. In fact, h.pylori is a causative factor in hypochlorhydria, acid reflux, heartburn, gastric cancer, gastritis, and peptic ulcers(1-5). It is also noted as the most common pathogen in the world and more than 50% of the world’s population is infected.(6) That’s right more than 50% of the population! Common ways of contrating h.pylori include unclean water, fecal-oral, oral-oral, sexual fluids, and consumption of contaminated raw foods particularly eggs and chicken.
H.pylori has adapted to surviving in the acidic environment of the stomach quite well. It burrows deep into the stomach wall utilizing its spiral shape and secretes enzymes, namely urease, designed to lower the acidity of the stomach to make living there more h.pylori friendly so to speak. Unfortunately for humans, what is considered h.pylori friendly isn’t so human friendly which is why the inflammatory conditions mentioned early result from infection from this bacterium. Nutritional deficiencies, toxic overload, immune system stress, digestive difficulties, hormonal imbalances, and many vague symptoms occur as a result of h.pylori infection.
So what does this have to do with migraines? Well turns out that h.pylori is also indicated as a cause for migraine headaches. This little beauty was without a doubt the cause for my migraines. Since eradication in 2008 of this bacterium using a potent herbal supplement, I have yet to have a migraine. I have also been able to test others with reoccurring migraines and stool analysis also indicated h.pylori infection. The scientific literature also supports the connection. Here are some references.
Helicobacter pylori infection as an environmental risk factor for migraine without aura.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18071631
Is Helicobacter pylori infection a risk factor for migraine? A case-control study.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15742606
Beneficial effects of Helicobacter pylori eradication on migraine.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9684130
Association between Helicobacter pylori cytotoxic type I CagA-positive strains and migraine with aura.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11075839
Reversal of migraine symptoms by Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy in patients with hepatitis-B-related liver cirrhosis.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17669102
Migraine and function of the immune system: a meta-analysis of clinical literature published between 1966 and 1999.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11472381
The mechanism by which h.pylori causes migraine headaches is not fully understood to my knowledge. However, more evidence is being brought to the table that indicates that the brain and the gut are linked and inflammation in the gut (enteric nervous system) can also occur in the brain (central nervous system). Many traditionally trained doctors may not look at the gut for matters dealing with the brain despite much literature being available implicating gut dysfunction as a factor in neurological conditions like ADHD, autism, schizophrenia, and others. A stool test is most effective from my experience at discovering whether you do or do not have an h.pylori infection.
Resources
(1)http://consensus.nih.gov/1994/1994HelicobacterPyloriUlcer094html.htm
(2) http://www.bpgastro.com/article/S1521-6918(99)90057-4/abstract
(3)http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20496539
(4) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20495574
(5) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20465395
(6) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicobacter_pylori
