Bytheway...Atlast,asolutionformymigraines

AS A lifelong sufferer of migraines, boasting a 60-year history, I have kept a close eye on the options available for reducing the frequency of attacks.

This debilitating condition affects nearly 20 per cent of women and more than 5 per cent of men, and if you have more than four episodes a month, some method of prevention is essential.

Unfortunately, the lifestyle measures of good sleep hygiene, regular mealtimes, regular exercise and a good fluid intake never fitted in well with my seven-day working week, nights on call, and the tensions of medical practice, despite my best efforts.

I have also tried various medications to limit the number of attacks, including beta- blockers (propranolol), antidepressants (amitriptyline) and anticonvulsants (topiramate). But none did the trick.

I was delighted, therefore, when I read that Co-enzyme Q10, a supplement of a substance found in most cells of the body, could halve the number of headache attacks in some migraineurs (at 100mg three times daily, admittedly very expensively as 30 capsules cost in the region of £19). So, too, can riboflavin (vitamin B2 at 400mg per day) after it has been taken for three months.

Both supplements can be obtained from a pharmacy or health food shop without prescription. I have persevered with both for a year or two and have abolished the smaller headaches, but have still been subject to the crashing ones several times each month. Now I have happened upon a new, well-designed study triggered by the observation that patients on statins have fewer migraines if they have high vitamin D levels.

The study — in which the migraineurs took 20mg of simvastatin plus 1,000mg of vitamin D twice daily, or dummy versions of these — showed a remarkable benefit in the group treated with the statin and vitamin D compared with the placebo group.

I’m giving it a try, and in my opinion it is mostly effective — and goes to show that not everything we hear about statins is bad news.

Doctors Dissected, by Jane Haynes & Martin scurr, is out in paperback on thursday (Quercus £14.99).