- 87% of gum-chewing teenagers who suffer regular headaches could cure themselves by giving up chewing gum, researchers have discovered
- The finding could allow thousands to find relief without tests or medication
- One study suggested gum chewing
causes stress to the temporomandibular joint, or TMJ – the place where
the jaw meets the skull – causing headaches - Another study blamed aspartame, the artificial sweetener used in most chewing gums
By
Emma Innes
12:10 EST, 20 December 2013
|
17:48 EST, 20 December 2013
Some 87 per cent of gum-chewing teenagers who suffer regular headaches can cure themselves by giving up chewing gum, new research suggests.
Scientists at the Tel Aviv University-affiliated Meir Medical Centre, in Israel, found that most adolescents who give up the habit experience significant relief.
The scientists, led by Dr Nathan Watemberg, believe the finding could allow doctors to cure thousands of patients of migraines and tension headaches without the need for additional tests or medication.
Up to 87 per cent of teenagers who chew gum and suffer regular headaches could cure themselves by giving up chewing gum, new research suggests
‘Out of our 30 patients, 26 reported significant improvement and 19 had complete headache resolution,’ said Dr Watemberg.
‘20 of the improved patients later agreed to go back to chewing gum, and all of them reported an immediate relapse of symptoms.’
Headaches are common in childhood and become more common and frequent during adolescence, particularly among girls.
Typical triggers are stress, tiredness, lack of sleep, heat, video games, noise, sunlight, smoking, missed meals, and menstruation.
But until now there has been little medical research on the relationship between gum chewing and headaches.
At Meir Medical Centre’s Child Neurology Unit and Child Development Centre, Dr Watemberg noticed that many patients who reported headaches were daily gum chewers.
The finding could offer relief to thousands without the need for further tests or medication
Dr Watemberg found that in many cases, when patients stopped chewing gum at his suggestion, they got substantially better.
Taking a more statistical approach, he asked 30 patients between six and 19 years old, who had chronic migraine or tension headaches and chewed gum daily, to quit chewing gum for one month.
They had chewed gum for at least an hour a day and some had chewed for more than six hours a day.
After a month without gum, 19 of the 30 patients reported that their headaches went away entirely and seven reported a decrease in the frequency and intensity of headaches.
To test the results, 20 of them agreed to resume gum chewing for two weeks. All of them reported a return of their symptoms within days.
Two previous studies linked gum chewing to headaches, but offered different explanations.
One study suggested that gum chewing causes stress to the temporomandibular joint, or TMJ – the place where the jaw meets the skull.
The other study blamed aspartame, the artificial sweetener used in most popular chewing gums.
TMJ dysfunction has been shown to cause headaches, while the evidence is mixed on aspartame. Dr Watemberg favours the TMJ explanation.
Gum only has a flavour for a short period of time, suggesting it does not contain much aspartame, he says.
If aspartame caused headaches, he reasons, there would be a lot more headaches from diet drinks and artificially sweetened products which also contain it.
On the other hand, people chew gum well after the taste is gone, putting a significant burden on the TMJ, which is already the most used joint in the body, he says.
‘Every doctor knows that overuse of the TMJ will cause headaches,’ said Dr Watemberg. ‘I believe this is what’s happening when children and teenagers chew gum excessively.’
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The-Commentator,
Testing-my-standup-routine, United Kingdom,
13 hours ago
At least now they won’t have to chew gum and do exams at the same time. One less challenge.
ukipper,
london,
20 hours ago
Manu’s ex Ferguson must have horrendous migraines.
Pat Rattigan,
Chesterfield,
1 day ago
ASPARTAME : the genetically-engineered neurological poison.
Is in over 5,000 products .
Effects – mania, violence, blindness, joint-pain, fatigue, weight-gain, chest- pain, coma, insomnia, numbness, depression, tinnitus, weakness, spasms, irritability, nausea, deafness, memory-loss, rashes, dizziness, headaches, seizures, anxiety, palpitations, fainting, cramps, diarrhoea, panic, burning in the mouth….Diseases triggered/mimmicked include diabetes, MS, lupus, epilepsy, Parkinson’s, tumours, miscarriage, infertility, fibromyalgia, infant death, Alzheimer’s… Source : U.S. F.D.A.
The-Commentator,
Testing-my-standup-routine, United Kingdom,
13 hours ago
Sarah,
Birmingham, United Kingdom,
1 day ago
It’s not just teenagers! I’ve just been told this, cos of needing teeth removed I was chewing cos I thought I had bad breath, making the problem worse! Much happier now.
philiponfire,
Xing Tan, China,
1 day ago
wow it took research to figure this out? Wow I came to this conclusion about 30 years ago and stopped chewing gum.
Suzannah,
London, United Kingdom,
1 day ago
It’s not only about gum chewing. There are many people complaining about a mysterious headache attacking them after meals. So, it’s chewing that triggers the pain, not the gum.
Songwriter Arraness,
Glasgow, United Kingdom,
18 hours ago
Fiona,
Surrey, United Kingdom,
1 day ago
I had headaches throughout school from age 5, chronic headaches, and i did NOT chew gum, i was very sick and usually in a daze, eventually at 16 my eye went squint and they could no longer ignore the situation (which i had begged for help with for years) yet… they stopped treatment and declaired me “cured†despite the face that i was not. Last year i ended up back in AE unsurprisingly with the exact same problem causing the pain as before, but one arrogant and rude doctor decided it “must†be TMD… or Sleep apnoea…. or medication misuse… or anything else that would get me off the neurology team’s books, TMD was ruled out in 3 minutes the next morning! Sleep aponea ruled out… medication misuse, i went through 3 months of agony to prove the pain was not going away without painkillers… when i get the pressure in my head taken down… the headaches are cured (for about 7 days) errr…. how is it so hard to see the facts. I should have been shunted 15 yrs ago.
Songwriter Arraness,
Glasgow, United Kingdom,
18 hours ago
The-Commentator,
Testing-my-standup-routine, United Kingdom,
13 hours ago
CastleGreyskull,
Blackburn – UK,
1 day ago
Got a headache???………….. Take a paracetamol and stop moaning !!
Fiona,
Surrey, United Kingdom,
1 day ago
DHilter,
Wolves, United Kingdom,
1 day ago
afarce,
London UK,
1 day ago
Is this a site for over 18 ‘s ?
TGreat,
Gushikawa, Japan,
1 day ago
Wow figured that out years ago. Didn’t get my grant for the “research†though.
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