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Why Does Vomiting Stop a Migraine Attack?

  • Migraine (R Cowan, Section Editor)
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An Erratum to this article was published on 17 September 2013

Abstract

Migraine is commonly associated with nausea and vomiting, though, interestingly, vomiting has also been reported by some patients to be therapeutic, and may actually stop a migraine attack. In this review, we will first discuss the epidemiology of nausea and vomiting in migraine. Further, we will briefly review the connections between the enteric nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, and the central nervous system as they pertain to understanding the question of “Why does vomiting stop a migraine attack?”

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the following for their insightful comments and contributions to our survey questions: Dr Allan Purdy (Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia); Dr.David Kudrow (California Medical Clinic for Headache); Dr Emeran Mayer (UCLA); Dr Massimo Leone (Istituto Nazionale Neurologico C. Besta, Milano, Italy); Dr Peter Goadsby (UCSF); and Dr K Ravishankar (Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre and Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, India).

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Conflict of Interest

Nu Cindy Chai reported no potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

Dr Robert E. Shapiro reported no potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

Dr Alan M. Rapoport reported no potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Sheikh Zayed Tower, Room 6005, 1800 Orleans Street, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Nu Cindy Chai

  2. Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT, USA

    Robert E. Shapiro

  3. Department of Neurology, The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Alan M. Rapoport

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  1. Nu Cindy Chai
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  2. Robert E. Shapiro
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  3. Alan M. Rapoport
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Correspondence to Nu Cindy Chai.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Migraine

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Chai, N.C., Shapiro, R.E. & Rapoport, A.M. Why Does Vomiting Stop a Migraine Attack?. Curr Pain Headache Rep 17, 362 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-013-0362-7

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