Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2025
A Method of Trigonometric Modelling of Seasonal Variation Demonstrated with Multiple Sclerosis Relapse Data
Published on: December 9, 2015
The association of serum vitamin D concentrations in paediatric migraine
Evangelia Ioannidou1, Charalampos Tsakiris2, Dimitrios G Goulis3
1Paediatric Specialty Trainee RCPCH, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki | AUTH, MSc Medical Research and Methodology, Greece.
Insights
Vitamin D deficiency is linked to more frequent and longer migraine episodes in children. Supplementation may improve the quality of life for pediatric migraine patients.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Pediatric Neurology
- Nutritional Neuroscience
Background:
- Migraine is a common neurological disorder in children, presenting as episodic or chronic headache syndromes.
- Vitamin D deficiency is a global health issue, impacting central nervous system function and potentially neurological disorders.
- While vitamin D's role in neurological conditions is recognized, its specific association with pediatric migraine requires further investigation, as most studies focus on adults.
Approach:
- A systematic literature review was conducted to investigate the association between serum vitamin D levels and pediatric migraine.
- The study employed the PICO framework (Population, Intervention, Control, Outcomes) to define the research question.
- Literature assessment followed PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews.
Key Points:
- A significant association exists between vitamin D levels and migraine characteristics in pediatric patients.
- Lower vitamin D levels correlate with increased frequency and duration of migraine episodes in children.
- This highlights vitamin D as a potential factor influencing migraine presentation in the pediatric population.
Conclusions:
- The systematic review indicates a notable link between vitamin D status and migraine in children.
- Vitamin D supplementation may offer a therapeutic avenue to enhance the quality of life for pediatric migraine sufferers.
- Further research into vitamin D's role could lead to improved management strategies for pediatric migraine.
Introduction:
Migraine is a neurologic condition characterized by hypersensitivity to auditory, olfactory, visual, and cutaneous stimuli; vomiting and nausea; and severe headache. It is the most frequent headache syndrome in children and can be categorized in chronic and/or episodic. Multiple dietary supplements have been inaugurated for the management of migraine, the most prevalent of which is vitamin D.
Background:
In recent years, vitamin D deficiency has been a global public health problem, with 30-80% of the worldwide population having vitamin D deficiency. The significant role of vitamin D in neurological disorders is underlined by its key role in the brain function of the central nervous system (CNS). Current approaches in paediatric neurology include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) for the treatment of paediatric migraine, among others. Vitamin D is one of the dietary factors that has been linked to migraine, however, this association has mostly been examined in the adult population.
Objective:
The aim of this study is to investigate the association between serum vitamin D and paediatric migraine by conducting a review of existing literature. The main question is described with the PICO format (population, intervention, control, and outcomes), while the assessment of the present research is under the PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews.
Results/Conclusion:
A systematic review of the literature reveals a remarkable association between vitamin D and migraine presentation in the paediatric population, affecting the frequency and duration of the episodes. That being the case, vitamin D supplementation could potentially improve the quality of life of paediatric patients suffering from migraine headaches.
Related Concept Videos
01:23Role of Skin in Vitamin D Synthesis
The solar UV B rays (290-315 nm) are absorbed by the skin, and 7-dehydrocholesterol (provitamin D3) photolyzes it to previtamin D3, which undergoes a rapid transformation to vitamin...
01:22Connective Tissue Cell Types
Fat cells (adipocytes), smooth muscle cells (myoblasts), and bone cells (osteoblasts) are some connective tissue cell types. Some immune system cells...
01:30Vitamins