No Cause For Red Wine Headache
For some people,
a glass of red wine is an invitation to a roaring headache, which may cause
them to banish wine from their tables for life, The New York Times reports.
The symptoms
are part of a syndrome known as Red Wine Headache or RWH and it's a poorly
understood phenomenon, according to an article in the Harvard Health Letter.
Dr. Fred Freitag, associate director of the Diamond Headache Clinic in
Chicago, says no one really knows what leads a patient to develop this
type of headache.
Sulfites used
to take the blame for RWH and about 20 years ago the Food and Drug Administration
determined since 1 percent of the population is allergic to sulfites some
wines would be required to include on the label "contains sulfites."
Many people
have assumed, incorrectly, the labeling is designed to warn people who
get a red wine headache.
Freitag, who
gets RWH, suggests those who suffer from the affliction try different brands
of wine -- different grapes and different countries of origin -- because
some may not cause the headache.
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