Headache is a condition that affects a significant portion of the population worldwide. It is estimated that approximately half of the population suffer from a primary headache (e.g., tension-type headaches, migraines, and cluster headaches). Headache disorders can be extremely incapacitating with major functional consequences. Accordingly, their socioeconomic impact is considerable and they are listed among the main causes of disability.
Lay people have traditionally implicated certain foods as triggers of headaches, especially migraines. While disputed for decades, these beliefs have been replaced by a growing scientific literature supporting different roles of nutrition in headaches, including: (i) identification of specific food triggers for headache attacks; (ii) involvement of dietary patterns, especially of poor quality and high inflammatory diets, in the development of headaches; (iii) association between body composition and obesity with migraine; (iv) the role of specific nutrients or diets as potential therapeutic strategies.
Dietary components and body composition play a role in the complex bidirectional link between nutrition and neurological disorders – including primary headaches – through influence on inflammatory pathways, production of neurotransmitters, the brain-gut-microbiome axis, among other mechanisms. In addition, clinical trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of nutrition-based interventions on migraine. Given that a significant proportion of patients with headache disorders quit pharmacological treatment due to dissatisfaction with its limited benefit and side effects, alternative and complementary strategies for the prevention and treatment of primary headaches can benefit patients and increase their quality of life.
The aim of this Research Topic is to:
1. Explore the mechanisms underlying the association between nutrition and primary headache disorders (i.e., tension-type, migraine, or cluster), such as but not limited to: (i) inflammation; (ii) alteration of endocrine and neurotransmitter production, and (iv) brain-gut-microbiome axis.
2. Evaluate the association between nutritional aspects (including body composition, diet, nutrients, and microbiota) and the risk of migraine development.
3. Assess the effect of nutritional approaches (e.g., dietary patterns, supplements, and herbal medicines) in treating migraine.
We welcome narrative and systematic reviews (including meta-analyses studies) and original research studies (pre-clinical, translational, and clinical research). Potential themes include but are not limited to the following topics:
• Association between body composition and development of headaches;
• The potential mechanisms underlying the connections between metabolic disorders and headaches;
• The involvement of nutrients on pathways associated with headaches disorders and the use of dietary supplements as therapeutic approaches.
• Brain-gut-microbiome axis and the use of microbiota modulate approaches in treating headache.
• The effect of dietary interventions and herbal medicines on treating headache disorders.
All manuscripts dealing with extracts require that the material investigated is characterized in detail (pillars 2 a / b and Front. Pharmacol. 13:953205. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2022.953205). All the manuscripts for consideration within Frontiers in Pharmacology Section Ethnopharmacology need to fully comply with the Four Pillars of Best Practice in Ethnopharmacology (you can freely download the full version here:
https://www.frontiersin.org/files/pdf/4_pillars_FULL_TEXT.pdf). Importantly, please ascertain that the ethnopharmacological context is clearly described (pillar 3d).
