Association Between Headache and Sensitivities to Gluten and Dairy

Abstract

Dietary factors are known triggers for migraine headaches. The most commonly implicated foods are wheat and dairy products. We present a case study of a patient with a 30-year history of debilitating migraine headaches who showed no benefit from various pharmaceutical interventions. Special panels for gluten and cross- reactive foods and a multiple autoimmune reactivity screen revealed significantly high levels of antibodies against wheat proteomes, transglutaminase, and dairy-related antigens. Not only did the implementation of a gluten-free and dairy-free diet result in an amelioration of the migraine headache symptomatology, the clinical improvements correlated with a significant decline in the levels of a majority of the previously elevated anti-bodies. This finding indicates that diet plays a significant role in a subgroup of patients with migraine headaches.