14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers with the Meir Medical Center at the Tel Aviv University, led by expert Dr. Nathan Watemberg, say that children and teens who experience tension headaches and migraines could experience a relief of their symptoms by not chewing gum.
In a study of 30 test subjects with these conditions, 26 reported significant improvements in their headaches, while 19 reported a complete disappearance of all symptoms. When 20 of the patients went back to chewing gum, the pains made a swift and unforgiving return, PsychCentral reports.
Details of the new investigation were published in the latest issue of the medical journal Pediatric Neurology. Headaches are not uncommon among teens and adolescents. Causes include lack of sleep, noise, smoking, excessive sunlight, stress and the onset of menstruation. We can now add chewing gum to that list.
Previous studies linking chewing gum to headaches argued that the link was caused by either aspartane, an artificial sweetener, or by stress on the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). The new research favors the second explanation, since the TMJ, which links the jaw to the skull, is the most strained joint in the human body.