Migraine: what you need to know if your head is splitting

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Every seventh person in the world knows firsthand what a migraine is. The symptoms were described by the ancient Greeks. By the way, they blamed evil spirits for the disease and tried to drive them out of their heads by making a hole in the skull. Now we do not know much more about migraine, but it has become more humane to treat it.

What is a migraine?

Migraine is a hereditary disorder, the main symptom of which is throbbing pain in the head. Sometimes nausea and sensitivity of hearing and vision join the pain: ordinary sounds and soft light seem harsh, annoying.

Sometimes migraine is signaled by neurological disorders: dizziness, temporary blurred vision, lethargy.

Some types of migraine (for example, hemiplegic, which causes weakness in one side of the body) are caused by a mutation in one gene. Because of it, a person is predisposed to overactive neurons. This means that the areas of the brain that are responsible for processing sensory stimuli are easily stimulated.

But most forms of migraine are polygenic, that is, several genes have worked on the disease. Migraine also depends on external stimuli: hunger, lack of sleep, worries.

Scientists still understand neurological processes, but some pieces of the puzzle are already forming a meaningful picture. For example, new drugs have appeared that prevent vasodilation - one of the causes of migraines.

Why doesn't anyone know where it comes from?

Scientists have only recently taken up the study of migraines. Many doctors believed and still believe that this is a psychosomatic illness that occurs in anxious people who are unable to cope with stress, more often affects women than men. So they didn't take her seriously.

In addition, the main symptom of migraine is pain, which is a subjective sensation. There is nothing to measure it, so people find it difficult to believe that it exists at all. In addition, seizures begin and pass, and in between, the person looks healthy.

Migraine began to be studied in general in 1960 due to the introduction of the drug "Metisergide" on the market. It was used to prevent recurrent attacks. Now the drug is not used because of serious side effects, but it helped to study the disease. They stopped looking for the causes of migraines in psychology, because they found physiological grounds.

There are many medicines. Migraine headaches are widespread, lasting for years - this is a gold mine for pharmaceutical companies. And drug makers continue to fund research. But not enough, especially if you compare how much money is allocated for other diseases.

Does migraine only affect women?

Migraine affects both sexes, but statistics say that women face it more often. Migraine affects up to 30% of all people in the world, women - about three times more often than men.

Scientists suspect menstrual hormones are to blame. A sharp drop in estrogen and progesterone levels late in the cycle triggers migraines. With age, hormones become less, their level does not jump, therefore, during menopause, migraines weaken and disappear.

Women are more often diagnosed with migraines, because they more often go to the doctor, complain of headaches. Some studies show that men are given different diagnoses for migraine symptoms. It is the fault of the doctors who do not see the real cause of the patient's complaints.

I have a migraine. What to do?

To begin with, visit a doctor and clarify the diagnosis: not every headache, even a strong one, is a migraine. Your doctor can help you find medications to relieve suffering and drugs to prevent seizures, such as antidepressants.

Then you need to figure out what triggers the attack, that is, understand what triggers your migraine have. The most common:

• stress;
• lack of sleep;
• some products: chocolate, sugar, coffee, salty, cheese, meat;
• alcohol;
• harsh smells, sounds, light;
• too high physical activity;
• change of weather.

Try to eliminate these triggers from life. Can't rule out - get ready. If you feel an approaching migraine, do not wait for the pain to stop moving, but immediately take the drug that your doctor has advised. Try to hide in a quiet place for a couple of hours and rest. If you make it in time, then the migraine can recede. It is better to take a break from business for a short time than to be patient and fall off with a bout of pain that can last for several days.

If the attack does happen, then try to survive it comfortably: in peace and quiet, with tea by the bed. Carry out any procedure that helps you: do cold compresses on your forehead, massage, take a bath.

Will your head ever stop hurting?

Perhaps in old age. Migraine is rampant among people 30-40 years old, when a person is at the peak of productivity. In Europe, this is one of the most common reasons people miss work. But migraines get better with age.

In clinical practice, older people rarely complain of seizures as severe as in their youth. There are exceptions, but they are rare.

It is believed that the processes that cause migraine in old age are not so intense. The walls of the vessels lose their elasticity, so the attacks due to vascular disorders are no longer so sharp.

How to get rid of seizures?

Usually drugs from the triptan group are prescribed. However, they do not work for 30-40% of patients, especially if they are prescribed for the first time and the patient has not yet found his drug from the group. In addition, triptans are slow to relieve pain. It takes 45–90 minutes for the drug to work. Those who are not helped by triptans at all have few options. No new migraine drugs have been developed since the 90s, and other pain relievers have little benefit for attacks.

For patients with chronic migraine (who suffers more than 15 days a month), medications are weak, but they can cause many side effects: dizziness, lethargy, mood swings.

Most drugs are not invented for the treatment of migraines. They were created to help patients with epilepsy or depression, and then it turned out that these drugs also help with migraines.

When will they learn to treat migraines?

This is unknown. Pharmaceutical companies are looking for drugs that can prevent pain.

It has been found that the level of the neurotransmitter CGRP, which dilates blood vessels, rises sharply during a migraine attack. CGRP receptor antagonists are being tested to block it. While the drug is being tested in the form of injections, which need to be administered once a month. The medicine does not completely relieve migraines, but the frequency of attacks decreases: patients who were ill for 18 days a month began to get sick 6, 6 days less (those who used a placebo began to get sick 4 days less).

But here, not everything is rosy: this medicine works only for half of the patients, and it has not yet worked out to predict whether the injection will help you or not. And it is not clear what the long-term consequences of blocking the neurotransmitter are.

So it's too early to rejoice. New drugs are expensive and their side effects are not well understood. We may have a breakthrough, but it's hard to say when there is a cure for migraines.