"Many young people who suffer from migraines may have vitamin deficiencies." Further studies are needed to elucidate whether vitamin supplementation is effective in migraine patients in general, and whether patients with mild deficiency are more likely to benefit from supplementation," said lead study author - a headache medicine senior consultant in Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Centre.

The study included children, teens and young adult migraine patients. A high percentage of them had mild deficiencies in vitamin D, riboflavin and coenzyme Q10 - a vitamin-like substance used to produce energy for cell growth and maintenance. Many of the patients were prescribed preventive migraine medications and received vitamin supplementation if their levels were low. But it wasn't possible to determine if vitamin supplementation could help prevent migraines, the researchers noted. The study also found that girls and young women were more likely than boys and young men to have coenzyme Q10 deficiencies. Boys and young men were more likely to have vitamin D deficiency. Patients with chronic migraines were more likely to have coenzyme Q10 and riboflavin deficiencies than patients with episodic migraines.

Previous research has suggested that certain vitamins and vitamin deficiencies may be important in migraine, but studies using vitamins to prevent migraines have yielded mixed results.