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Drinking from plastic bottles or cups gives migraine attack, says study
Toxics Link Source: Times Of India, Date: , 2013
LONDON: Drinking water directly from plastic cups or bottles
could be giving millions of people around the world a serious headache. New
research has confirmed that a chemical in synthetic packaging triggers
migraines.
Bisphenol A (BPA) which has been linked toobesity, infertility and heart attacks has now been confirmed through
toxicological studies to be a serious trigger for a serious prolonged bout of
migraine.
Researchers at the University of
Kansas Medical Center reported a 24% increased risk for overall
cardiovascular disease in men who experienced-migraines compared to those who did
not including a 42% increase in heart attack risk.
The findings suggest that migraine sufferers might be able to
reduce the frequency and severity of their headaches by changing their habits.
Three in every four adults aged between 18 and
65 suffered from some form of headache disorder including migraine and
tension-type headaches last year. In India over 10 crore people suffer from
migraine.
Women are three times more likely than men to
have migraine. About 4% of people who are more than 65 years, suffer from
migraines. Men who suffer migraine headaches have a higher risk of heart
disease, particularly heart attacks.
BPA is considered an "environmental
oestrogen" because it mimics the hormone estrogen in the body. The effect
of BPA exposure on cancer has been widely studied but
little is known about its role in worsening migraine and other pain syndromes.
"We hypothesized that BPA exposure would
activate estrogen receptors exacerbating migraine symptoms," researchers
said.
In a group of rodents with migraines, those that
had been exposed to BPA showed significantly worse migraine symptoms than those
that had not. "This is an entirely new direction for the field of
migraine," the scientists said. If patients eliminated all plastic and
canned packaging, it would demonstrate a 66% decrease in urinary BPA in
patients after just three days.
"These findings suggest that a clinical
trial to decrease BPA exposure and levels in migraine sufferers may reduce the
frequency and severity of headaches and may increase the quality of life for
migraine sufferers," the team added.
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