Around 9 million people in Germany suffer from migraine. Women are roughly three times more likely to be affected. © fizkes/stock.adobe.com

Can migraine symptoms be relieved by patients knowingly taking tablets without an active ingredient?

Project Olpimi
Team

Patients knowingly taking tablets without an active ingredient regularly for 12 weeks – can that really relieve the pain and physical impairment associated with migraine? That is the question this study aims to answer. In addition to their existing treatment, half of the patients will receive placebo tablets. We know from other pain disorders that placebos can relieve symptoms, even when patients know that they are not taking real medication, but there has been little research into which other factors, such as stress responses, genetics and brain responses, have an influence. This information would help to provide more personalised pain therapy.

Effects of open-label placebo treatment on pain days, tolerability and impairment in patients with episodic and chronic migraine

The objective of this parallel-group study is a systematic investigation of the effects of a 12-week open-label placebo treatment on pain days, tolerability and impairment in patients with episodic and chronic migraine in addition to their treatment as usual. This systematic investigation of potential predictors for placebo responses in migraine patients will explore psychometric predictors, salivary cortisol and alpha amylase awakening responses, genetic predictors, such as catechol-O-methyltransferase Val158Met polymorphisms, and the functional and structural connectivity of the brain (with resting-state fMRI and diffusion tensor imaging).