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Research Reports
Research into migraine disease has come a long way in just the past decade. It was not long ago that migraine headaches were thought of by most people as "just a bad tension headache." A lot of people still have this belief, but fortunately fewer of them are physicians. We now know migraine is a neurological malfunction, and is related in some way to other neurological complications such as motion sickness and epilepsy. For more on how migraines originate, and how they are treated, see Migraine Overview.
Scientists are busy around the globe studying migraine. In the United States, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) coordinates much of America's research into migraine, and makes the results of this research available to the public via a number of web sites. (NINDS is a division of the federal government?s National Institutes of Health, a vast university-like institution whose campus is located near Bethesda, Maryland.) Some of the information on this web site comes from NINDS. If you would like to explore the subject further on your own, www.ninds.nih.gov is a good place to start.
Research Summaries
Migraines Linked to Cardiovascular Problems
A major study involving 5,755 participants indicates that migraineurs have an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. "For reasons that are not yet clear, people with migraine - particularly those with aura - may be more likely to present with risk factors associated with cardiovascular conditions," writes lead author Dr. Ann Scher of the National Institute on Aging (NIA), a division of the National Institutes of Health. "It is known that migraine with aura increases the risk of stroke before the age of 45, although the reason for this is not yet clear…. Understanding the role of classic risk factors for cardiovascular disease in migraine sufferers might help to understand why people with migraine with aura are at increased risk for early-onset stroke." The study was conducted among 5,755 participants in the Netherlands. (Neurology, Feb. 22, 2005.)
Research Briefs
Hopeful prognosis
A Danish study of 549 patients showed that 80 percent of 549 patients studied over a 12 year period experienced complete remission or a significant decline in their migraine headaches. (Neurology, August 2005.)
Migraines disrupt sexual relationships
Fifty-eight percent of 20,000 migraine sufferers surveyed in England said their condition prevented them from maintaining a sexual relationship. Dr. Andy Dowson, director of the King's College Headache Service, who helped carry out the survey, said: "Despite advances in migraine medicines, only one in four patients in this large study was totally satisfied with any treatment that they had tried." According to the British Broadcasting System, one in four of the survey participants said they had never consulted a physician - 17% because they felt their doctor would not treat it seriously. (British Broadcasting System, 7/27/99.)
Genes identified
Researchers in Australia have identified a chromosome "which harbors a gene that is implicated in the common form of migraine headaches." Scientists at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research predicted the discovery could lead to development of diagnostic tests, and later to new treatment options. (American Journal of Human Genetics, Vol. 77, pages 365-376.)
Botox Role May Expand
Botox injections have been used since at least 1990 to treat migraine headaches, and physicians are finding Botox is effective in treating other pain as well, according to a paper delivered to the American Pain Society by Dr. John Claude Krusz. “A growing body of preliminary data suggests Botox may have more widespread effects” than were previously known. Dr. Krusz, a physician in private practice in
Dallas , said in some cases intradermal Botox (that is, Botox injected just under the skin) is more effective than Botox injected intramuscularly. No large-scale test has yet been conducted to assess the efficacy of Botox injections for migraine, but it may be a topic worth bringing up with your physician. [For additional information: www.helpforheadaches.com/articles/krusz-botox.htm.]
15% of Adults Suffer Severe Headaches
Fifteen percent of adults experience migraine or other severe headache at least once every three months, according to the latest and most reliable survey of Americans' health. The Center for Disease Control says one in four U.S. adults suffer a day-long bout of pain at least once a month. Adults ages 18-44 were three times as likely as adults over 65 to report migraines or severe headaches. "We chose to focus on pain in this report because it is rarely discussed as a condition in and of itself," said lead study author Amy Bernstein. "Pain is mostly viewed as a byproduct of another condition." (www.cde.gov/nchs/pressroom/06facts/hus06.htm.)
Women and Migraines
Do women really suffer migraines three times as often as men? This statement is endless circulated on the web and among mainstream media, but it is demonstrably false.
The origin of this myth is that women report migraines three times as often as men. But studies have repeatedly shown that men are less likely to report health problems of all sorts than are women.
So what is the accurate figure? So far as we know no reseacher has attempted to determine the answer to this question, but when they do we will let you know. Meanwhile, question the reliability of any reporter who says women suffer migraines three times more often than men. It's sensational, and totally false.
Insurance Limitations on Triptans
The American Headache Society has reported that high costs and low insurance coverage are causing migraneurs to forgo the use of the best treatment availabe -- triptan drugs. Forty-two percent of migraine patients surveyed by the Society reported their insurance plans restricted the number of triptan doses covered per month. Thirty-seven percent said they haven't filled a triptan prescription because of the high cost. (www.AmericanHeadacheSociety.org)
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