What Is the Cause for Migraine Headaches?
If you get migraine headaches, or know someone that gets them, then you know the extreme pain involved. Sometimes it helps to know what may be the cause for migraine headaches in order to help prevent or treat them. The cause for migraine headaches is not an easy thing to pin down but scientists think they may be on the trail to finding the exact cause for migraine headaches and potentially developing a more clinical and exact way of treating them.
Not a lot is known about the cause for migraine headaches but the prevailing theory is that two chemicals found naturally in the blood, dopamine and serotonin, are the cause for migraine headaches. Dopamine and serotonin are not only associated with causing pain but they also can cause the blood vessels in the brain to act abnormally releasing too much blood or not enough blood to the brain depending on the reaction.
While the exact cause for migraine headaches is not really known right now scientists point to this imbalance in the amount of dopamine and serotonin and the effect these chemicals have on blood flow to the brain as the primary cause for migraine headaches.
What Triggers Migraines?
Many people claim that their migraine headaches come on suddenly and without warning but this is not entirely true. If you keep a close watch on any patterns that start to develop when a migraine headache comes on you can usually identify at least some of the triggers that can be a cause for migraine headaches.
One of the biggest triggers is stress. Stress causes chemical reactions in the body that get compounded by any imbalance in dopamine or serotonin and cause migraines. Another key trigger to migraines is smoking. Not only does smoking trigger migraines but smoking can also reduce the effectiveness of migraine treatments so if you smoke and get migraines you may want to quit smoking.
Some other triggers to migraines include a lot of food related items. If you miss a meal it can cause a migraine and this particular pattern is very easy to track and nail down. Sometimes certain foods like chocolate or cheese can trigger a migraine. If the theory that migraine headaches are caused by an imbalance in brain chemicals then foods as a trigger makes sense because all foods cause chemical reactions in the human body.
