Experiment in vivo: How COVID-19 Lifestyle Modifications Affect Migraine

Abstract

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic represents a unified lifestyle modification model, which was developed by the globally applied measures. The lockdowns designed the perfect study settings for observing the interaction between migraine and the adopted changes in lifestyle. An experiment in vivo took place unexpectedly to determine how the lockdown lifestyle modifications can influence migraine.Subsection 1: Overall lifestyle modifications during the pandemic: People stay home, and outdoor activities and public contacts are restricted. Sleep is disturbed. Media exposure and prolonged screen use are increased. Working conditions change. In-person consultations and therapies are canceled. The beneficial effects of short-term stress, together with the harmful effects of chronic stress, were observed during the pandemic.Subsection 2: Short-term effects: Substantial lifestyle changes happened, and knowing how vulnerable migraine patients are, one could hypothesize that this would have resulted in severe worsening of headache. Surprisingly, even though the impacts of changing social conditions were significant, some patients (including children) experienced a reduction in their migraine during the first lockdown.Subsection 3: Long-term effects: Unfortunately, headache frequency returned to the basal state during the second pandemic wave. The risk factors that could have led to this worsening are the long-term disruption of sleep and dietary habits, stress, anxiety, depression, non-compliance to treatment, and working during the pandemic.Discussion: Sudden short-term lifestyle changes taking migraine patients out of their usual routine may be beneficial for headache management. It is not necessary to have a natural disaster in place for a drastic lifestyle modification with 6–8-week duration, if we know that this will improve migraine.

Associação entre comportamento alimentar e hábitos de vida e aumento de crises de migrânea em universitários na pandemia da COVID-19

“…It is known that the eating behavior of each person is influenced by internal and external issues, such as food preferences, cultural, physiological, emotional, social factors, among others. 8,9 Thus, in face of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak and the emotional impact it caused, there was an expression of emotional eating, leading to the adoption of food consumption in order to deal with negative emotions. The food choices, therefore, are mostly for high-fat, carbohydrate-rich, and sugary foods, giving the consumption of these foods a greater sense of pleasure.…”

Current Perspectives on the Impact of Chronic Migraine on Sleep Quality: A Literature Review

“… 16 , 35 Identified triggers and aggravating factors appear as emotional and physical stress, nutrition, and sleep disturbances. 37 , 38 Poor sleep plays an important role in the chronicity process. 39 Lifestyle and behavioral changes, and acute and prophylactic treatments should be planned together to reduce the frequency, severity, and duration of migraine attacks.…”

Association between Dietary Habits, Lifestyle and Migraine Attacks During Social Isolation in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review of Observational Studies

“…The change in eating habits and reduced physical activity, in association with stress and a higher level of fear and anxiety experienced during the pandemic, can be understood as factors responsible for inducing dysfunction in the circadian cycle, thus implying the physiological secretion of the hormone melatonin, which consequently leads to changes in sleep patterns [8]. It is worth noting that chronic sleep disruption is related to a predisposition to migraine attacks [9]. In addition, during the health crisis, there was a tendency to increase smoking and drinking habits [10,11], which can have a substantial eff ect on crises due to the presence of histamine and nicotine in alcoholic beverages and cigarettes, respectively [12].…”