Tai Chi for the Prophylaxis of Episodic Migraine: the Efficacy Examination and Mechanism Exploration

The proposed study aims to examine the clinical efficacy of 24-week Tai Chi training in the prophylaxis of episodic migraine comparing with standard prophylactic medication in Hong Kong Chinese women, and to explore the mechanism of Tai Chi's intervention effect by examining the associations of changes in migraine features with neurovascular and neuroinflammation variations.

Inclusion Criteria:Chinese woman, aged 18-65 years.Have a clinical diagnosis of episodic migraine (migraine with less than 15 attacks per month) with or without aura according to the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition (ICHD-3).First migraine attack before the age of 45 years.Between two and six migraine attacks in one month.At least one of the following migraine characteristics is met: nausea, vomiting, photophobia, or phonophobia.Duration of migraine attacks is 2-72 h without acute medication or at least 1 h with acute medication.Able to undertake designated level of Tai Chi exercise.Live in Hong Kong.Exclusion Criteria:Severe migraine attacks with disabilities that cannot perform moderate intensity physical activity.Secondary headache and other neurological disease.More than 5 days of non-migrainous headache per month.Experience with Tai Chi or other body-mind exercises (yoga, biofeedback, medication, etc.) after diagnosis of migraine.Undergoing other alternative therapeutic treatments during recruitment period, or received other alternative therapeutic treatments in the past 12 weeks.Pregnancy, lactation period, or currently using contraceptives.Use of pharmacological prophylactic treatment for migraine in the past 12 weeks.Drug abuse, take antipsychotic or antidepressant drugs, or take analgesics for other chronic pain more than 3 days a month in the past 12 weeks.Epilepsy, or have a psychiatric disease.