Glass of Water

Last Friday, right after my last class, I went to a mall with a friend. As we got inside a jeepney along Taft Ave., I immediately got a major headache, as if my head was being cracked open. Like I usually do, and since my companion told me to apply greater pain to my head, I hit my head against the "wall" of the PUJ and my hand against my head. Surprisingly, both personal techniques didn't work. I also tried diaphragm breathing to suffice myself with greater oxygen intake, but it didn't work, too.

So I thought, maybe inhaling too much polluted air from Metro Manila is killing my neurons; where all I can do is wait 'till I get to a "less polluted" place, like the mall. But getting inside the mall didn't help me with my suffering, but drinking water did a little magic with my brain-torturing, literally, headache.

On our way back home, I was again exposed to the air pollution haven, and so was my headache. During that time, I just didn't tell my friend, I really wanted to cry because of the unbearable pain, but it would just be too humiliating to do so. When we're about to take our dinner, I tried vomiting but nothing came out, and nothing good happened either. I lost my sense of taste, I can't even taste the soda I was drinking. But drinking the soda and my handy paracetamol made me so happy, it made the headache go bye-bye forever.

I did a little research and found out that dehydration is one of the biggest of the universal migraine triggers. The fact that more 70% of our body is composed of water, then we should have an idea how important water is for our body. Biological reactions also occur in aqueous medium, just so you know. So, by what mechanisms can dehydration or lack of water trigger migraine? The answer? Here you go:

1. Our nerves send signals to control every part of our body. This is via tiny water pathways. Lack of water thickens the fluid in these nerves, thus distorting the signals to be sent out. These distorted signals can be migraine triggers.

2. Toxins are carried away from cells via water. Lack of water cause toxins to build up, thus causing inflammation to nerves. These inflamed nerves can be migraine triggers.

3. Water, as a vital transport system, plays an active role in the biological processes. Lack of water may cause interference in these activities, thus may also cause lack of energy to power cell pumps. This may overwhelm neurons in the brain, which may be migraine triggers.

Scared of losin' all the time

He wrote it in a letter, he was a friend of mine

He heard you could see your future

Inside a glass of water with ripples and the lines

And he asked, "Will I see heaven in mine?"

-Glass of Water, Coldplay

Now, we all know the importance of drinking at least 6-8 glasses of water a day! Everyone needs to replace the water lost from their daily activities. Sounds simple, eh? Just a healthy way to keep that evil migraine away.

A glass of water a day, keeps the migraine away! The real thing, not the song, k?