Attenuation of chronic tension headache frequency and severity with daily l-arginine and aged garlic extract dietary supplementation

Abstract

A 74-year-old female subject with suboptimal management of episodic tension headache was treated with a daily dose of 1.5 g l-arginine and 1.2 g aged garlic extract (AGE). The aim of the intervention was to promote vasodilation of parenchymal cerebral blood vessels. Within 6 weeks of commencing treatment, her self-reported symptoms improved markedly and were sustained at 2 years following commencement. We propose that the putative beneficial effect of l-arginine and AGE in this patient is because of the well-established systemic vasodilatory effects of l-arginine and aged garlic extract. On the hypothesis that migraine is precipitated by cerebral microvascular constriction, we recommend a double-blind randomised controlled trial to clinically test this hypothesis in migraine patients.