'Love hormone' helps cure headaches

A new study finds that oxytocin, a hormone that increases trust and links human relationships, can also act as a pain reliever for anyone suffering from pain. regular head.

The use of oxytocin "love hormone" opens up a new treatment for chronic chronic headache. (Photo: Dreamstime).

Health Daily News reported that scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine (USA) have studied the effects of oxytocin hormone in people with chronic headaches daily. The volunteers selected to participate in the study all experienced at least 15 headaches each month and most of them were severe migraine attacks.

David Yeomans , a member of the research team, further revealed that the study subjects were also patients who did not respond well to any headache treatment available on the market.

Of 20 out of 40 patients who were given a dose of oxytocin nasal spray, 50% reported that their headaches were halved, and another 27% said they did not suffer from the following 4 pain attacks. hour clock. Meanwhile, 11% of patients who were prescribed placebo sprays (20 others) reported having halved their headaches after 4 hours and none of them reported complete pain relief. .

Statistics show that about 6 million Americans are suffering from chronic headaches daily. According to Dr. Egilius Spieringst , associate professor at Harvard Medical School and also a specialist in the management of headaches, there are currently only two treatments that are effective in preventing headaches. people with this disease. One is Botox injection - a new method approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November, and the second is to use a drug called Topiramate .

Although both of these methods are more effective than placebo, they do not provide relief for all patients. Moreover, both have disadvantages: Topiramate can affect cognition and Botox must be injected continuously, every 3 months to be effective, and may cause problems with breathing and swallowing of patients.

Until now, scientists have not found any adverse side effects of oxytocin headaches. However, they insisted that further research is needed to confirm the new results as well as to find out if "love hormones" have long-term effects.

Compared to traditional migraine treatment therapies, which usually begin to work after about 2 hours, the use of oxytocin takes longer to start working. On average, "love hormones" start to reduce pain after 4 hours and will stop working after 24 hours.