Headache
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Review Case Reports
MSG and hydrolyzed vegetable protein induced headache: review and case studies.
Monosodium glutamate (MSG), an established headache trigger, has become far more prevalent in canned, packaged and prepared foods over the past decade. The presence of MSG in food may be difficult to detect since the terms "natural flavor," "flavoring," or "hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)," all may appear on food labels to refer to MSG, according to current FDA food labeling codes. ⋯ Information and food lists helpful in identifying dietary MSG and HVP are presented. When patients are put on an MSG-free trial diet, attention needs to be given to identification of the wide variety of foods containing MSG and HVP.
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Criteria for the diagnosis of cervicogenic headache are proposed, which include unilateral head pain, symptoms and signs of neck involvement, non-clustering episodic moderate pain originating in the neck then spreading to the head, and response to root or nerve blockade; plus rarer and non-obligatory features such as autonomic disturbances, dizziness, phonophotophobia, monocular visual blurring, and difficulty swallowing.