A NEW vitamin pill to reduce the frequency and severity of migraines could be on the market within a year.

Australian researchers are in the final stages of trialling the pill which could help one in five of the two million Australians who suffer from the disabling headaches that can last days.

The cocktail of B vitamins and folate being tested have been shown to improve the function of an enzyme connected with the headaches.

Around one in five Australians who suffer from migraines have a mutation of the MTHR methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase gene.

They produce less of the enzyme that controls levels of the vitamin folate and amino acid homocysteine in the body.

High levels of homocysteine are associated with migraine and increased risk of stroke and cardiovascular disorder.

"A cofactor for the enzyme is vitamins and we've done a phase one and phase 2 trial that showed they could make the enzyme work better," says chief researcher Professor Lyn Griffiths.

The preventive treatment does not eliminate the headaches but will reduce their frequency, severity, Professor Griffiths said.

A final trial of 600 headache sufferers is testing the required dose of the vitamins needed to provide relief.

Professor Griffiths warns the vitamin treatment does not work in patients who do not have the gene mutation.

Migraine sufferers who want to find out if they have the MTHR gene mutation can have a blood sample taken and sent to the university for a $66 DNA test.

The World Health Organisation ranks migraines in the top 20 causes of disability worldwide and they are three times more common in women.

Professor Griffiths is heading a new unit at the Queensland University of Technology that is investigating gene mutations linked to migraines and other chronic illnesses.

So far research has identified eight genes linked to the headaches which cause nausea, visual disturbances and severe system wide ill health, even temporary paralysis.

"I suffered from migraine as a teenager, my mum suffered from migraine, but as a geneticist looking at genes for various disorders I didn't even think about migraine until my son at about the age of four started suffering from migraine, including visual disturbances," Professor Griffiths said.

"So when you have someone close in your family who you really care about, you realise just how debilitating, how severe, it is; and I thought something needed to be done," she said.

Professor Griffiths is urging people who suffer from migraine to join the Headache Register at headacheaustralia.org.au.

The site allows sufferers to access the latest in migraine news and research, learn about current and upcoming treatment trials and download a Headache Diary to help them manage their disorder.

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Originally published as Hopes vitamin pill will ease migraines