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The majority of
headaches can be ascribed to tension, sinusitis, migraine,
muscular pain and a long list of other causes, but there is
another possibility: that hypoglycemia [low-blood sugar] can
cause headaches.
For patients with
undiagnosed recurrent headaches, check for hypoglycemia with a
three-hour glucose tolerance test (GTT). If hypoglycemia is
detected, then dietary intervention (high-protein,
low-carbohydrate) should be tried to see whether the headaches
resolve.
Two caveats to
this advice however: Most patients with hypoglycemia have other
prominent symptoms (hunger, sweating, dizziness) and most
references suggest a five-hour GTT as a more accurate tool -
with the requirement that the headache develops during the
hypoglycemic phase of the test. |