• Contemp Clin Trials · May 2013

    Randomized Controlled Trial

    Can weight loss improve migraine headaches in obese women? Rationale and design of the Women's Health and Migraine (WHAM) randomized controlled trial.

    • Dale S Bond, Kevin C O'Leary, J Graham Thomas, Richard B Lipton, George D Papandonatos, Julie Roth, Lucille Rathier, Richard Daniello, and Rena R Wing.
    • Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown Alpert Medical School, The Miriam Hospital/Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center, Providence, RI, USA. dbond@lifespan.org
    • Contemp Clin Trials. 2013 May 1; 35 (1): 133-44.

    BackgroundResearch demonstrates a link between migraine and obesity. Obesity increases the risk of frequent migraines and is associated with migraine prevalence among reproductive-aged women. These findings are substantiated by several plausible mechanisms and emerging evidence of migraine improvements after surgical and non-surgical weight loss. However, no previous study has examined the effect of weight loss on migraine within a treatment-controlled framework. The WHAM trial is an RCT to test the efficacy of behavioral weight loss as a treatment for migraine.Study DesignOverweight/obese women (n=140; BMI=25.0-49.9 kg/m(2)) who meet international diagnostic criteria for migraine and record ≥3 migraines and 4-20 migraine days using a smartphone-based headache diary during a 4-week baseline period, will be randomly assigned to 4 months of either group-based behavioral weight loss (intervention) or migraine education (control). Intervention participants will be taught strategies to increase physical activity and consume fewer calories in order to lose weight. Control participants will receive general education on migraine symptoms/triggers and various treatment approaches. Both groups will use smartphones to record their headaches for 4 weeks at baseline, after the 16-week treatment period, and at the end of a 16-week follow-up period. Changes in weight and other potential physiological (inflammation), psychological (depression), and behavioral (diet and physical activity) mediators of the intervention effect will also be assessed.ConclusionThe WHAM trial will evaluate the efficacy of a standardized behavioral weight loss intervention for reducing migraine frequency, and the extent to which weight loss and other potential mediators account for intervention effects.Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…