Migraine and Magnesium: Review of Evidences

Migraine is a neurovascular disease that affects 6% of men and 18% of women worldwide. Evidences have shown that migraine is associated with a reduction in serum levels of magnesium، and also magnesium supplementation can decrease the migraine symptoms. This study aimed to review the available evidence in relation to migraine and magnesium. This review study was done by searching on PubMed، Scopus، Science Direct and Web of Science by entering “migraine”، “headache”، “magnesium” and “Mg2+” as keywords. In this study، clinical trial، cross-sectional، retrospective and prospective studies which were published during 1990 to 2014 were reviewed. We included studies that were diagnosed migraine based on IHS criteria and were done on human، and excluded non-English language articles and studies that investigated pulsating headaches as the main aim. In most evaluated studies، migraine was associated with low serum levels of magnesium compared with healthy control. No significant difference was found in magnesium levels between migraine with aura and without aura. Also، No significant difference was seen within and between migraine attacks in this regard. In most clinical trials، magnesium supplementation revealed a reduction in severity، frequency and duration of migraine attacks. Furthermore، this supplementation decreased needs of medications in migraine patients significantly. However، in a few studies، magnesium intake had side effects such as diarrhea and stomach irritation.