Mental and Neurological Disorders 113
A traditional Arab remedy for migraine headaches points up what
this irritant is. The Arabs place a clove of garlic under the skin in the
region of the temple. As soon as a pocket of pus develops under the
garlic, the blood vessels shrink back to their normal size, and the head-
ache disappears. The garlic draws out the pus from the blood in the
dilated vessels. Pus is a sign of infection and contains phagocytes, which
try to destroy the bacteria responsible for the infection. The bacteria
wouldn’t have proliferated to the extent that the phagocyte immune
cells intervened if there was not enough acid waste in the blood for
them to feed on. A migraine, then, is caused by acidic waste that, in
providing food for bacteria, causes an infection that is painful because
it infl ames the blood vessels.
An effective treatment for migraine headaches was developed by an
otologist, Dr. Miles Atkinson. Atkinson described the results of his
vitamin B therapy. B complex, particularly B 3 , helped maintain normal
dilation in the brain’s blood vessels in his patients suffering from
migraine headaches.^11 He made this discovery quite by accident. His
patients with gastrointestinal problems who took the bacterium Lacto-
bacillus acidophilus (commonly found in yogurt) not only got relief from
their intestinal problems, but the patients who had migraine headaches
noticed that some of their migraine symptoms had disappeared as well.
Atkinson came to the conclusion that by replenishing the bacterial
colonies in the intestines that aid in the manufacture of the B vitamins,
the brain was supplied with enough vitamin B to normalize the dilation
of the blood vessels covering the skull. (He also gave vitamin B injec-
tions and prescribed oral B.) Another possibility is that the friendly
bacteria in the yogurt destroyed the harmful bacteria that were causing
the painful swelling of the blood vessels.
Individuals with injuries in the visual center of the brain get
migraines if they eat foods their digestive systems can’t handle or if
they react to airborne particles such as pollen or the scent of perfume.
These incompatible factors cause acids to form that accumulate near
the brain injury. Migraine sufferers are known to react to coffee, tea,
alcohol, wheat and other grain products, red wine, chocolate, citrus
fruit, cheese, chain smoking, and pollen. Avoiding these foods and air
pollutants like cigarette smoke and pollen also normalizes the thyroid
so that energy levels can increase enough to eliminate the metabolic
wastes and toxins that trigger migraines. Migraine sufferers, like people