Migraine headaches

waltky · Apr 25, 2014

Granny says Uncle Ferd gives her headaches sometimes...

CDC: Women Twice As Likely to Get Severe Headaches, Migraines
April 25, 2014 -- Women are twice as likely as men to suffer from migraines and severe headaches lasting a day or longer regardless of their age or race, according to the latest statistics released by the 2012 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

18.9 percent of women surveyed reported experiencing a severe headache or migraine within the past three months. The same was true of only 9 percent of men. The NHIS--a household, multistage probability sample survey conducted annually by interviewers of the U.S. Census Bureau for the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions National Center for Health Statistics--collected data on 34,525 adults for the 2012 survey.

The NHIS survey also revealed that married people reported fewer migraines/severe headaches than those who were divorced, widowed, never married or living with a partner. Dr. Seymour Diamond, executive chairman of the National Headache Foundation, told CNSNews.com that the higher prevalence of headaches in women is a widely known medical fact. He explained two reasons for this: There is a hereditary factor and one of those genes is passed more frequently to women. Women also have a larger trigger because their hormone fluctuations are much greater because of their [menstrual] cycles.

This large discrepancy in the percentages of male and females who suffer from migraine/severe headache is borne out historically. Another CDC study showing data on migraine/severe headache sufferers in 1997, 2010, and 2012 reveals that 101 to 116 percent more women reported severe headaches and migraines than men. And a recent article compiled statistics from the NHIS report and other studies that visually demonstrate the headache gap between male and female sufferers. The Mayo Clinics website says that women are three times more likely than men to have migraines. While the causes of migraines are still uncertain, the Mayo Clinic speculates that genetic and environmental factors may play a role.

It also lists common migraine triggers, which include hormonal changes in women, certain foods such as aged cheeses and processed food, and various food additives. The NHIS study also found that the higher the income of the respondents, the less likely they were to suffer from migraines or severe headaches. Only 10.7 percent of those who made $100,000 or more complained of severe headache/migraine problems, compared to 17.8 percebt of those who made less than $35,000. And although migraine and severe headache sufferers were pretty evenly distributed throughout the country, the survey found that a higher percentage of sufferers live in rural rather than urban areas.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article...n-twice-likely-get-severe-headaches-migraines
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axialturban · Apr 25, 2014

Tell her to have some Vit. C with meals. It might be he is slowing down the efficiency of her DAO.... or knock her up;

"Some women note a remission of their allergic symptoms during pregnancy. This is possibly because, during pregnancy, the histamine degrading enzyme, diamine oxidase, is usually produced in high amounts. In fact, levels are known to be approximately 500 times higher in pregnancy."

smevins · Apr 25, 2014

I have a sister who gets debilitating migraines but since she usually gets them around the same time I am having allergies, I think she is just having allergies and is being a drama queen about the whole thing

waltky · May 20, 2016

Uncle Ferd says womens gets a lotta headaches...

Green Light May Help Ease Migraines
May 19, 2016 - Exposure to green light could help those who suffer migraine and post-traumatic headaches, according to a new study.

Writing in the journal Brain, researchers from Harvard Medical School say pure-wavelength green light helps ease sensitivity to light, called photophobia, and can reduce the intensity of headaches. The researchers say more than 80 percent of migraine sufferers have photophobia, leading many to seek relief by isolating themselves in a dark room, unable to perform daily tasks. It is their inability to endure light that most often disables them," says Rami Burstein, Professor of Anesthesia at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Harvard Medical School, and lead author of the study.

A new study claims exposure to green light can reduce the severity of migraines.

For the study, researchers asked patients experiencing a migraine to report how different color and intensities of light impacted their headache. At the light levels of a typical office, the patients reported that of blue, green, amber or red lights, all but green made their headaches worse. Researchers said patients reported that green light reduced the intensity of their pain by about 20 percent.

The reason: Green light appears to create the least amount of electrical signals generated by the eyes retina and brains cortex. "My hope is that patients will be able to benefit directly from these findings one day very soon," said Burstein, who is trying to devise an economically viable light bulb that can emit pure green light at a low intensity. He also envisions sunglasses that can block out all light but green.

http://www.voanews.com/content/mht-green-light-may-ease-migraines/3337204.html
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waltky · Nov 30, 2017

Trials for New, Long-acting Drugs Cut Frequency of Migraine Headaches...

New, Long-acting Drugs Cut Frequency of Migraine Headaches in Trials
November 29, 2017 - New, long-acting drugs may offer hope to millions of people who suffer from migraines. Studies of two of these medicines, given as shots every month or so, found they cut the frequency of the notoriously painful and disabling headaches.

The drugs are the first preventive medicines developed specifically for migraines. They work by interfering with a substance involved in modifying nerve signaling and progression of pain and symptoms. "It's a whole new direction" for treatment and an important advance for people who don't want to take or aren't helped by the daily pills sometimes used now to prevent recurrences, said Dr. Andrew Hershey, neurology chief at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

Migraines plague more than a billion people worldwide. They're more severe than an ordinary headache and can leave people unable to work or do even simple things,

He had no role in the research but has tested other migraine drugs and wrote a commentary published with the studies Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine. Migraines plague more than a billion people worldwide, more than 38 million in the U.S. alone. They're more severe than an ordinary headache — throbbing, squeezing pain and pressure, often accompanied by vision problems, sensitivity to light, noise or smells, and nausea. They can leave people unable to work or do simple things like cooking or even holding a conversation.

What studies show

One study tested erenumab, from Amgen and Novartis, in about 900 people who averaged eight migraines a month. Nearly half had already tried other preventive medicines. For six months, they were given monthly shots into the abdomen of a high dose of the drug, a low dose or a dummy medicine. The number of days they suffered migraines each month dropped by three to four in the drug groups and nearly two in the placebo group. Half of the patients on the higher dose saw their migraine days cut at least in half. "I very definitely benefited," said Anne Vickers, who got the lower dose through one of the study leaders at Mercy Hospital St. Louis in Missouri. "I can have anywhere from 15 to 18 headaches per month, and probably five of those days are migraines," but that dropped 40 percent on the drug, she said. "I have three kids, so for me it meant having more days when I was able to live my everyday life, cook a meal at home, go to events at school."

The second study tested fremanezumab, from Teva Pharmaceutical, for chronic migraines, defined as headaches on 15 or more days per month, at least eight of them migraines. About 1,000 patients were given monthly shots for three months: One-third got the drug each time, another third got the drug the first time and then dummy shots the next two times, and the rest got dummy shots each time. Monthly headache days dropped by four to five in the groups given the drug and by two to three for those given dummy treatments.

The caveats
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waltky · Jan 7, 2018

Help for migraine sufferers coming soon...

The first effective drugs for preventing migraine may be available soon
Jan 7, 2018 - I suffer from migraines. At least once a month, I have excruciating head pain, sensory problems and intermittent bouts of vomiting. The attacks can last for two weeks or more. Migraines have a huge impact on every aspect of my life, so it is with excited anticipation that I await the US Food and Drug Administration’s decision on a new drug that could prevent these attacks. The FDA’s decision is expected in the first half of 2018.

Although migraines affect about 15% of the world’s population – more than diabetes, epilepsy and asthma combined – advances in treatment have been sluggish, to say the least. The last occurred 30 years ago with the development of triptans. During a migraine, blood vessels in the brain expand and press on nerve endings, causing pain. Triptans were developed to constrict blood vessels and so relieve pain. However, this treatment had mixed results with complete relief in some patients and minimal effects in others.

Personally, I have found triptans to help by slightly reducing symptoms during a migraine, but the attacks still happen. Triptans weren’t developed to prevent migraines, only to reduce the symptoms. Some drugs that are used to reduce seizures in people with epilepsy, such as topiramate and valproate, have been used as preventative treatments for migraine, but they don’t work for everyone and often have a number of side effects. Having tried some of these drugs myself, I can report that the side effects are quite debilitating.

An ounce of prevention

A new class of drugs – calcitonin gene-related peptide inhibitors – has recently been developed that may change this. Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a neurotransmitter produced by neurons in the brain. As well as controlling blood flow, studies have shown CGRP levels increase during migraine attacks and slightly lower after treatment with triptans, which gives some relief from symptoms. Human studies also show that people who suffer from migraines are more sensitive to CGRP levels, and high CGRP triggers migraine-like headaches within hours. This prompted the investigation of blocking CGRP as a new migraine therapy.

Monoclonal antibodies – a new type of large molecule drug – that target CGRP or its receptor are the first treatment for migraine to be developed in decades and the first ever for preventing migraine attacks. Results published in the New England Journal of Medicine from large late-stage clinical trials have shown that monthly injections of a drug called erenumab blocks CGRP binding to its receptor which reduced the occurrence of attacks in up to 60% of people. As a bonus, it had hardly any side effects.

You wait for ages and then…
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