Gingkolide B as migraine preventive treatment in young age: results at 1-year follow-up

Primary headaches, migraine and tension-type headaches are some of the most frequent conditions in young age. Even before pharmacological treatment, it is mainly useful in these patients to adopt an appropriate lifestyle, with regular sleep, meals, computer and TV, sport, and avoiding triggers. Any specific and effective pharmacological treatment for migraine and tension-type headache is never lacking in side effects. Gingkolide B, an herbal constituent extract from Ginko biloba tree leaves, is a natural anti platelet activating factor (PAF). PAF is a potent pro inflammatory and nociceptive agent released during the inflammation process. Therefore, Gingkolide B can be considered a promising non pharmacological tool for treatment of migraine with and without aura. In an earlier clinical report, we described our initial attempts to assess the clinical utility of Gingkolide B in a small group of young migraine patients. A small sample of 30 young patients suffering from migraine without aura entered the open-label prospective trial. Migraine without aura was diagnosed according to International Headache Society (IHS) criteria. The treatment was well tolerated and the compliance was good. Despite the uncontrolled open-label design of this study and the small sample of patients, these data show that Gingkolide B seems to be effective as preventive treatment in reducing migraine attack frequency and in attenuating the use of symptomatic medication in our small series of children with primary headache.