In a prospective study at the Minneapolis Children’s Medical Center 28 children with classic migraine were treated with propranolol (3 mg/kg/d) or placebo for 3 months, using a cross over design, followed by an equal period of self-hypnosis. The mean number of headaches per child during placebo and propranolol periods were similar (13.3 and 14.9 respectively) and was significantly reduced (5.8) with self-hypnosis (P=.045), a standard progressive relaxation exercise. [1]
COMMENT: Non-pharmacological methods (biofeedback, self-hypnosis, dietary) of treatment of juvenile migraine are displacing the previously popular pharmacologic options eg propranolol and phenytoin. Phenytoin prophylactic treatment is attended by potential adverse toxicity and propranolol in controlled studies has been found ineffective [2]. At the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London, an oligoantigenic dietary regime is preferred. [3]