Health & Fitness News

According to a new study, exercise looks to be just as effective as drugs when trying to prevent migraines.

Around 15 per cent of the Irish population suffers from migraines, which means around 13,000 of us suffer from them every day. Exercise is regularly recommended to sufferers of the severe headache, often characterised by a severe pain on one side of the brain. But it is until now that a study has proved its effectiveness.

A group of Swedish researchers gathered together to find out whether recommended exercise actually worked as an alternative to the drug topiramate, which is regularly given out to sufferers.

The researchers divided 91 people who suffered from migraines into three groups. The first was told to exercise for 40 minutes three times a week, the second group was told to do ‘relaxing exercises’, while the third group got the drugs. Those relaxing exercises sound interesting.

The groups followed their orders for three months and were then checked on three and six months after the tests were complete. The researchers found that all three groups suffered from fewer migraines, however there was little to no difference between the exercise group and drug group. This indicates that exercise is just as effective as popping a pill.

"Our conclusion is that exercise can act as an alternative to relaxation and topiramate when it comes to preventing migraines and is particularly appropriate for patients who are unwilling or unable to take preventative medicines," the team from the University of Gothenburg said.