GW Vets with Headache and GI problems

Many sick vets and myself suffer chronic
multisympthoms illness. We complaint of
headaches and GI problems. Now there is a
study that speaks to our problem.
We must demand that VA-Research Advisory
Committee - GWI to follow up on this.

Headache common in people with GI trouble
Wed Feb 27, 2008 7:39pm EST
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The prevalence of
headache is higher in people with gastrointestinal
GI) symptoms such as nausea, acid reflux, diarrhea,
and constipation, than in people who don't have
these bothersome symptoms, new research indicates.

Both headaches and GI symptoms are common in the
general population and eat up substantial healthcare
dollars, note the researchers. "However, the
scientific literature about the comorbidity of
headache and gastrointestinal complaints is scant,"
they point out in the medical journal Cephalalgia.

To investigate, Dr. Anne Hege Aamodt and associates
from the Norwegian University of Science and
Technology, Trondheim, reviewed questionnaires
completed by 43,732 participants in the
Nord-Trondelag Health Study, including information
on GI symptoms as well as headache.

After adjusting for gender, age, depression,
anxiety and other factors that might influence
the results, the research team noted a significantly
higher prevalence of headache among participants
with reflux, diarrhea, constipation, and nausea,
compared to those without such complaints.

"The association between headache and gastrointestinal
complaints increased markedly with increasing
headache frequency," Aamodt told Reuters Health.

These results have implications for the treatment
of headache patients. "It is important to consider
the total burden of discomfort in these patients
and to avoid headache medication with adverse
gastrointestinal effects in those with much
gastrointestinal discomfort," Aamodt said.

The strong ties between frequent headache and
frequent GI complaints raises questions about
common mechanisms that make headache sufferers
predisposed to GI complaints, Aamodt also noted.

SOURCE: Cephalalgia, February 2008.