This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
LANGLEY, British Columbia, Nov 10, 2004 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A Canadian researcher claims one's eyes can provide faster relief from migraine headaches than any pill.
Kevin Lefebvre, a graduate student at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia, prescribes what is called the One Eye Integration treatment, normally reserved for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Lefebvre says by manipulating a patient's field of vision, headache symptoms can be reduced by up to 70 percent, or be prevented altogether.
In his study, Lefebvre says he employed a modified form of OEI therapy on 16 headache sufferers. The treatment controls the amount of light entering parts of the brain through the eyes by alternately covering each eye in a "switching" method.
The results saw 13 participants experience considerably reduced migraine and non-migraine headache pain. Three participants did not experience any headache pain, claiming the process created a "heightened awareness to symptoms" that helped prevent the onset of headaches.
"The effects of this treatment are robust," says Lefebvre, a former migraine sufferer and now a mental health clinician.
OEI therapy is based on the understanding that each eye stimulates different parts of the brain, which elicits different reactions.
Copyright 2004 by United Press International.
