Yoga may cut migraine frequency

Yoga therapy may reduce the frequency of headaches for people with migraine, according to a meta-analysis scheduled to be published in the May issue of the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience.

Qi Wu, from the First Hospital of Changsha in China, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to identify randomized controlled trials assessing the efficacy of yoga therapy for migraine attack.

Based on five clinical trials (356 participants), the researchers found that yoga therapy was associated with substantially reduced headache frequency (standard mean difference, −1.43; 95 percent confidence interval, −2.23 to −0.64; P = 0.0004) and a reduced Headache Impact Test-6 score (standard mean difference, −2.19; 95 percent confidence interval, −4.09 to −0.28; P = 0.02). There was no significant association observed between yoga and migraine pain intensity (standard mean difference, −1.37; 95 percent confidence interval, −2.76 to 0.01; P = 0.05) or the McGill Pain Questionnaire (standard mean difference, −2.09; 95 percent confidence interval, −6.39 to 2.22; P = 0.34).

"Yoga is one common complementary and alternative medicine therapy, and is increasingly practiced worldwide," the authors write. "Adjuvant yoga therapy may provide additional benefit to reduce the headache frequency in patients with migraine attack."