Butterbur Reduces migraines in children and adolescents in clinical trial A new clinical trial published in the newspaper indicated that headache a patented extract of butterbur root, an herbal remedy in Europe, has been successful in reducing the frequency of migraine in children and adolescents. Three to seven percent of all children experience migraines. Since most migraine therapies are not effective when administered to children is a need for further research on promising new therapies that can help prevent migraines in children. Although there have been many studies testing therapies for adults with migraines, there have been few controlled trials investigating the prophylactic treatment of migraine in children and adolescents.
Butterbur, which is native to Europe, has been most successfully used for its ability to relieve pain and spasms in conditions such as migraine, asthma, urinary tract spasms and back pain. This trial, which took place in Germany, was an open, but to obtain approval for the placebo-controlled trials in children is very difficult to obtain. Unlike a controlled trial against placebo in which patients and investigators do not know which is true with the active agent and which is to use a placebo, an open trial gives all patients on active treatment for both patients and researchers being aware of it.
This study, which was conducted in five pediatric clinics and thirteen medical practice included a total of 108 subjects. Twenty-nine were children aged six and nine years, seventy-nine were adolescents aged ten years and seventeen. Only patients who had suffered from migraines for at least one year were included in the test. Each patient was treated with 50-150mg, depending on age and tolerance to drugs, butterbur root extract for four months. The increase in salaries was recorded in migraine journals that have been specially designed for children and adolescents.
Use of the butterbur extract significantly reduced the number of migraine attacks in children and adolescents. The rate of attacks decreased from 9.4 in the younger 6-9 years and 9.7 in youth aged 10-17 in the three months preceding the study, 4.0 and 5.8 after attacks four months of treatment. Among all patients, seventy-seven percent of them reported a reduction in the frequency of their migraine attacks by at least half. The butterbur extract showed little adverse effects throughout the trial. Spitting the most frequently reported side effect and adverse effect well known that the extract of butterbur. The results of this study concluded that butterbur extract may be an effective treatment of migraine in children and adolescents. However, researchers point out that since the study had an uncontrolled design, positive results may not be sufficient to draw definitive conclusions about the effectiveness of treatment. But when that body is combined with the results of two previously published clinical trials in adults, it seems that the extract is a safe and effective alternative treatment of migraine in children and adolescents.
Posted on March 31, 2010.
