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Attenuation of chronic tension headache frequency and severity with daily l-arginine and aged garlic extract dietary supplementation

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 76, pages 317–319 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

A 74-year-old female subject with suboptimal management of episodic tension headache was treated with a daily dose of 1.5 g l-arginine and 1.2 g aged garlic extract (AGE). The aim of the intervention was to promote vasodilation of parenchymal cerebral blood vessels. Within 6 weeks of commencing treatment, her self-reported symptoms improved markedly and were sustained at 2 years following commencement. We propose that the putative beneficial effect of l-arginine and AGE in this patient is because of the well-established systemic vasodilatory effects of l-arginine and aged garlic extract. On the hypothesis that migraine is precipitated by cerebral microvascular constriction, we recommend a double-blind randomised controlled trial to clinically test this hypothesis in migraine patients.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the patient for their co-operation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Bentley, WA,, Australia

    Devahuti Chaliha, Mauro Vaccarezza, Virginie Lam, Ryusuke Takechi & John C. Mamo

  2. School of Population Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley, WA,, Australia

    Devahuti Chaliha, Virginie Lam, Ryusuke Takechi & John C. Mamo

  3. Curtin Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley, WA,, Australia

    Mauro Vaccarezza

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  1. Devahuti Chaliha
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  2. Mauro Vaccarezza
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  3. Virginie Lam
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  4. Ryusuke Takechi
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Contributions

DC wrote the primary manuscript; JM facilitated the interview and edited the manuscript; MV oversaw the development of, and edited, the manuscript; and RT and VL co-supervised the Ph.D. candidacy and edited the manuscript.

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Correspondence to John C. Mamo.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Chaliha, D., Vaccarezza, M., Lam, V. et al. Attenuation of chronic tension headache frequency and severity with daily l-arginine and aged garlic extract dietary supplementation. Eur J Clin Nutr 76, 317–319 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-021-00962-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-021-00962-x

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