Terry Pulliam Burd > wrote in
:

> On Wed, 17 May 2006 15:03:47 -0600, "D.Currie"
> > rummaged among random neurons and
> opined:
>
>>Red wine has a good chance of giving me a headache, almost
>>immediately. White isn't as bad, but I still have to watch what it is.
>>My own bottles, I know what I'm getting into. If I'm not familiar with
>>the brands at a restaurant, I have to be careful. If the only choice
>>is "house wine" I go for beer or mixed drinks instead.
>
> I was told a while ago that the reason you get headaches from red wine
> and not white is that red wine has histamines. <shrug> Dunno if it's
> true or not, but I certainly have heard people say that they don't get
> headaches from the whites.
>


There's hope for you RWH sufferers yet :-)


http://www.beekmanwine.com/prevtopbd.htm

In a new controlled study, Kaufman and Dwight Starr, M.D., Mt. Zion
Hospital and Medical Center, examined, through blind evaluation, various
inhibitors of prostaglandin synthetase (IPS) drugs, aspirin,
Acetaminophen, and Ibuprophen, to test if the RWH could be prevented by
the prophylactic use of these specific medications.

During the first stage, twelve subjects (nine females and three males)
with a history of RWH were challenged with red wine, and all experienced
RWH. The subjects returned one week later, stage two, and were given
inhibitors of prostaglandin synthetase or placebo one hour prior to wine
ingestion. The two who received the placebo were not protected. Kaufman
and Starr reported that ten of the subjects who were premedicated failed
to develop the RWH; two given Acetaminophen developed a "second phase''
RWH 6-10 hours after wine ingestion.

Kaufman and Starr conclude that RWH may be due to a metabolic defect and
corrected by prostaglandin synthetase inhibitors. Mechanisms of
correction remain unclear. Source: H. Kaufman and D. Starr, Prevention
of the Red Wine Headache (RWH); A Blind Controlled Study. In New
Advances in Headache Research, 2nd edition, ed. F. Clifford Rose. Smith-
Gordon, 1991.



New Information on Headaches, Flushing, and Bloating

If you suffer from headaches and/or flushed skin when drinking wine, try
drinking a cup of black tea before you drink the wine. If you will be
drinking over the course of an evening, have another cup or two of black
tea during the evening. Quercetin, a bioflavonoid found in black tea,
significantly inhibits the headache/flush response (which is an
inflammatory effect from histamines), according to Tareq Khan, M.D., a
pain expert with St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston, Texas.
If the problem you suffer from is bloating dye to alcohol's
dehydrating and water retention effects, try munching on magnesium-rich
snacks like dark chocolate and unsalted nuts, according to Carolyn Dean,
M.D., N.D.


--
Peter Lucas
Brisbane
Australia

At this spectacle even the most gentle must feel savage, and the most
savage must weep.

Turkish Officer
400 Plateau
24May1915