A diet higher in fatty fish helped frequent migraine sufferers reduce their monthly number of headaches and intensity of pain compared to participants on a diet higher in vegetable-based fats and oils, according to a new study by esearchers from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and other organizations.

Over a 16-week period, study participants n the fatty fish diet reported between 30 and 40 percent reductions in headache hours per day, severe headache hours per day, and overall headache days per month.

Migraines, a neurological disease, ranks among the most common causes of chronic pain, lost work time, and lowered quality of life. Eighteen percent of U.S. women suffer from them.

NIA, which leads the federal government’s effort to conduct and support research on aging and the health and well-being of older people, is part of the National Institutes of Health.