1043-3155 Pediatr Neurol Briefs pedneurbriefs Pediatr Neurol Briefs Pediatric Neurology Briefs Pediatr Neurol Briefs 2166-6482 1043-3155 2166-3155 Pediatric Neurology Briefs Publishers Chicago, IL, USA PNB-2-33-b 10.15844/pedneurbriefs-2-5-2 Headache Neurology Pediatrics Nervous System Diseases Child Development Brain Diseases Neurosurgery Child Infant Aspartame and Headache http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0173-7931 Millichap J. Gordon MD 1 2 * Division of Neurology, Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL Correspondence: Dr. J. Gordon Millichap, E-mail: jgmillichap@northwestern.edu 05 1988 01 08 2016 2 5 33 34 Copyright: © 1988 The Author(s) 1988 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Aspartame and headache

At a recent meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, neurologists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY and the Montefiore Headache unit reported that aspartame was a headache precipitating factor in 8.2% of 171 patients evaluated consecutively.

 Montefiore Headache Migraineurs Muscle Contraction

At a recent meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, neurologists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY and the Montefiore Headache unit reported that aspartame was a headache precipitating factor in 8.2% of 171 patients evaluated consecutively. Migraineurs were three times as likely to complain that aspartame triggered their headaches than those with muscle contraction or mixed headache types. The authors concluded that aspartame may be an important dietary trigger in a significant proportion of headache sufferers, particularly in migraineurs. (Lipton RB et al. Neurology March 1988:38 (Suppl 1):356). [1]

COMMENT: Although the above study was conducted mainly in adults, the findings would probably apply equally to children with migraine. The role of aspartame in aggravating migraine and other vascular headaches is confirmed by investigators at the Cleveland Clinic and at Emory University School of Medicine and negated by those at Duke University [1]. Drs John Wilson and Edward Brett, pediatric neurologists, and colleagues at the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London, have convincing evidence that dietary factors, including cow’s milk, egg, wheat cereals, chocolate, orange, and cheese, play an important role in the causation of recurrent headaches in children [2]. Diet drinks containing NutraSweet® should be on the list of items to be avoided by migraineurs until further studies are completed.

 Aspartame and headache N Engl J Med 1988 May 5 318 18 1200 2 10.1056/NEJM198805053181812 3362169 Egger J Carter CM Wilson J Turner MW Soothill JF Is migraine food allergy? A double-blind controlled trial of oligoantigenic diet treatment Lancet 1983 Oct 15 2 8355 865 9 10.1016/S0140-6736(83)90866-8 6137694