Mindfulness and pharmacological prophylaxis have comparable effect on biomarkers of inflammation and clinical indexes in chronic migraine with medication overuse: results at 12 months after withdrawal.
Licia Grazzi, Domenico D'Amico, Alberto Raggi, Matilde Leonardi, Emilio Ciusani, Elena Corsini, Giovanni D'Andrea, Andrea Bolner, Francisco Salgado-García, Frank Andrasik, Emanuela Sansone
Neurological Sciences May 2017 DOI: 10.1007/s10072-017-2874-0 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Longitudinal Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Patients with chronic migraine and medication overuse |
| Interventions | Mindfulness-based treatment medical prophylaxis |
| Duration | 12 months |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Biomarkers Chronic migraine Interleukin-6 Medication overuse |
| Key findings | The authors report that patients with chronic migraine and medication overuse showed sustained, similar reductions in inflammation biomarker concentrations whether they attended mindfulness-based treatment alone or received medical prophylaxis alone over 12 months, though the changes were not statistically significant. They present these as preliminary findings and suggest further research with larger samples or more intensive treatment is warranted. |
Abstract
Chronic migraine (CM) is a disabling condition arising from a complex mixture of interconnected biological, psychological and social factors, and is often associated with medication overuse (MO). Mindfulness is emerging as a helpful treatment for pain, and one study showed that the longitudinal 12 months' course of CM-MO patients that attended mindfulness-based treatment alone was similar to that of patients receiving medical prophylaxis alone; in this study, we describe the course of biomarkers of inflammation. Our results provide initial evidence of sustained similar effects on reduced concentration of biomarkers of inflammation, although not sizeable enough to reach statistical significance. Whether more intensive treatment and/or larger samples would lead to greater changes is unknown, but these encouraging preliminary findings suggest further research is warranted.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Undergraduate students | 2006 | Observational cohort | |
| Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders Patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia | 1992 | Observational cohort | n = 22 |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Long-term Buddhist practitioners and controls | 2004 | Observational cohort |
Citations in the library
Cited by 4
- Mindfulness in migraine: A narrative review Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics January 14, 2020
- Effects of Synergism of Mindfulness Practice Associated With Transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation in Chronic Migraine: Pilot, Randomized, Controlled, Double-Blind Clinical Trial Frontiers in Human Neuroscience December 8, 2021
- Experiences of a Neurofeedback-Based Mindfulness Meditation Intervention for Migraine: Qualitative Study. JMIR neurotechnology 2025
- Meditative and Mindfulness-Focused Interventions in Neurology: Principles, Science, and Patient Selection. Seminars in neurology April 1, 2022
Cites 3
- Mindfulness and pharmacological prophylaxis after withdrawal from medication overuse in patients with Chronic Migraine: an effectiveness trial with a one-year follow-up. The Journal of Headache and Pain December 2017
- Meditation for migraines: a pilot randomized controlled trial. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain October 2014
- Mindfulness-based stress reduction for chronic pain conditions: variation in treatment outcomes and role of home meditation practice. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 2010