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Feverfew For Preventing Migraine
Using Tanacetum parthenium (feverfew) to prevent migraine headaches
Date : 12/12/2012
Author Information
Uploaded by : Zahra
Uploaded on : 12/12/2012
Subject : Medicine
Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium L.) has traditionally been used for fever, women`s ailments, inflammatory conditions, psoriasis, toothache, insect bites, rheumatism, asthma and stomach-ache. During the last decades, it has also been used for migraine prophylaxis. The sesquiterpene lactone parthenolide has been suggested as the main active component of feverfew. The role of parthenolide in migraine prophylaxis was supported by in vitro studies suggesting inhibition of serotonin release from blood platelets (e.g., Heptinstall 1985). This has, however, been contradicted by other evidence (de Weerdt 1996). At present, the identity of the principle active constituent(s) of feverfew remains unclear.
A systematic review first published in The Cochrane Library, Issue 3, 2000 (Pittler 2000), identified four randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing feverfew with placebo for the prevention of migraine, but the data were insufficient to establish the efficacy of feverfew beyond reasonable doubt. The present update sought to identify trials undertaken since the last systematic literature search in 1999 and to address, once again, the questions: (1) does feverfew prevent attacks of migraine, and (2) is it safe to use?
This resource was uploaded by: Zahra