The ancient herbal butterbur offers considerable help in preventing migraine headaches, according to an international research team. The study on 245 migraine patients found that the herbal extract from the petasites hybridus root halved the frequency of migraine attacks in many of the sufferers. It lends scientific weight to the traditional use of the remedy. Study leader Dr Richard B. Lipton of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and colleagues randomly assigned the patients, who experienced two to six migraine attacks per month during the three prior months, to take two capsules daily over the next four months. They took 75 mg of Petadolex brand butterbur extract made by Weber & Weber, a 50-mg dose, or a placebo. The main outcome measured was the percentage decrease in the frequency of migraine attacks, calculated by comparing migraine attacks during the study with the number of attacks that patients experienced before the study began. “The 75-mg butterbur dose reduced headache frequency by 48 per cent — a substantial treatment effect,” said Dr Lipton. This compared with a 26 percent reduction among placebo users, reported the team in the 28 December issue of Neurology 63(12), pp2240-4.
