People who get severe headaches brought on by fasting no longer need to fear Yom Kippur, according to Dr. Michael Drescher, associate chief of emergency medicine at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut.

Drescher has discovered - based on research conducted at Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, during Yom Kippur 2004 - that taking 50 milligrams of rofecoxib or similar medication is likely to make that headache go away. Rofecoxib is found in the prescription pain-killer Arcoxia.

"Medical studies carried out over the last few decades - in the medical school at Tel Aviv University, in India and in Saudi Arabia - found that fasts stemming from a religious commandment, on Yom Kippur or during Ramadan, are accompanied by headaches for those who tend to suffer from them," Drescher said.

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Indeed, the medical world has come to recognize the "Yom Kippur headache," he said. Sitting down for long periods can contribute to the headaches, as can hunger and caffeine withdrawal, he noted.

Drescher recommends that those who drink a lot of coffee and are planning to fast on Yom Kippur gradually reduce their caffeine intake as the fast approaches.

Yom Kippur begins on Sunday night.

Drescher said the research conducted two years ago was actually centered around Vioxx, which was removed from the shelves two days after the study ended because it was found to increase the risk of heart attacks among patients who took the drug every day for 18 months. Arcoxia contains a similar substance but has not been found problematic.

The study examined 105 volunteers who generally get the Yom Kippur headache.

Of the half who took Vioxx, 18.9 percent reported headaches during the fast day, in comparison to 65.4 percent of the control group, which took a different medication.