Every year, about 36 million suffer from migraines; which is a disorder that is the result of hyper-excitable brain [...]]]> Women’s wellness and health website Lifescript.com, based in Mission Viejo California, has announced the launch of a Migraine Health Centre online to help women reduce and treat the migraine pain that they experience on a regular basis.

Every year, about 36 million suffer from migraines; which is a disorder that is the result of hyper-excitable brain networks and can result in a variety of uncomfortable symptoms that include sensitivity to light, smells, and sound, blurred vision, severe headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, and nausea. Women are more likely to suffer from migraines than men.

MD Edward Geehr, the Chief Medical Officer for Lifescript, stated that there are four phases that someone goes through when they suffer through a migraine headache. He explained that not everyone has all four experiences, or even perceives them the same way, however, when caught during the early phases they can be prevented. At the moment there is not a known cure for migraines, but the Health Centre from Lifescript closely follows all new studies on migraines and offers a variety of articles and tips on how to prevent them from occurring.

Outside of simple tips such as trigger foods and causes of migraines that can be avoided, it also offers interviews from famous celebrities that suffer from migraines including Cindy McCain, Virginia Madsen, and Mayim Bialik. Also offered on the website is information about the types of doctors that you will need to help treat your migraines effectively as well as a ‘doctor finder’ tool that helps patients find a specialist locally.

For the last several years there have been trials that suggest that Botox can help treat chronic migraines, but the drugs rationing body has not been open [...]]]> Botox is known for smoothing wrinkles, but the drug is about to also become widely used in the NUS in order to help treat people who suffer from migraines.

For the last several years there have been trials that suggest that Botox can help treat chronic migraines, but the drugs rationing body has not been open to this suggestion.

However, NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) is set to recommend the Botox injections as a form of headache treatment for those that are tired of suffering from migraines.

NICE previously opposed the use of Botox but reversed its position this past week. Back in February the group claimed that there was not enough evidence out there to justify using it, but now it believes that Botox could help adults that have a condition that has not been alleviated by taking a cocktail of preventative meds and those who have not abused their medications.

For these, headache specialists believe that Botox could help by treating the symptoms and offer benefits to patients by giving them more days when they do not suffer from a migraine so that they can have a higher quality of life.

Chair of the British Association for the Study of Headache Dr. Fayyaz Ahmed stated that patients who have received Botox treatment have found that it helps them complete their everyday tasks easier because without the threat of migraines tasks such as visiting friends, making a school run, or attending meetings is a bit easier.

According to the Migraine Trust about one out of every fifty people suffer from chronic migraines.Sufferers of migraines can often have to deal with a headache for 15 of the thirty days every month and experience a migraine one out of every eight days of the month.

NICE stated that Botox may not be an effective choice for all migraine patients, but that Bash and the Migraine Trust believe that it should be made available via the NHS for those that are not able to properly manage their condition.

The final guidance from NICE will come in June but the organisation is not expected to change its mind again after their initial rejection.After the recommendation is issued then the NHS in Wales and England have ninety days to make Botox available in cases where migraine specialists recommend its use.

This phenomenon has puzzled scientists for a long time; what is it that triggers headaches after drinking icy cold water or eating icy cold food like ice-cream?

Recent research shows that [...]]]> Have you ever heard of a condition called ‘brain-freeze’? When having a bite of ice-cream causes your head to start hurting, think blood-rush in the head.

This phenomenon has puzzled scientists for a long time; what is it that triggers headaches after drinking icy cold water or eating icy cold food like ice-cream?

Recent research shows that drinking ice-cold fluid or eating ice-cold food can cause headaches and migraines, which allows hope for new solutions in treatment of migraine and other headaches. Reports from one of significant American conferences claimed that headaches are also a difficult subject to research because of the unpredictability of the seizures.

A head freeze is easily triggered and can hence be researched in laboratory conditions as a whole process. A United States research team from Harvard School of Medicine conducted an experiment by monitoring the blood-flow to the brain while their subjects were drinking either icy water or luke-warm water. People used straws for drinking, so that the liquid was affecting the mouth-roof. The subjects reported changes such as start of headaches and when the pain was relieved.

The research concluded that the headaches were triggered by simultaneous opening of the anterior cerebral artery that flooded the brain with blood. Both events seemed to coincide.

When the artery returned to its normal functioning, the headaches were gone, as was reported at the Conference on Experimental Biology, while one of Harvard researchers, Jorge Serrador, comments that this could be a self-preserving technique that the body uses to keep the brain warm and operative as long as possible as to increase the chances of survival in extreme conditions.

Hopefully the findings of this research can help with the development of new techniques in migraine and headaches treatment.

Sufferers have recently been surveyed and there is a suggestion that only five percent believe that their boss is really aware of how a severe migraine can impact their working life.

Another survey which was conducted prior to this one indicated [...]]]> Unfortunately, people who suffer from migraines are often not understood properly by those in the workplace.

Sufferers have recently been surveyed and there is a suggestion that only five percent believe that their boss is really aware of how a severe migraine can impact their working life.

Another survey which was conducted prior to this one indicated that 30 percent of those who suffer from migraine said that they felt discriminated at work because of the medical condition. The more recent study also highlighted that only around 10 percent of sufferers think that their colleagues really understand the condition.

This is a very big problem as migraines are often triggered by many things that you can find in the workplace. Migraines are triggered by causes such as long working hours, stress, air conditioning and electronic screens. This can make people more susceptible to migraines at work which can be very difficult to deal with when the workplace doesn’t really understand the condition.

It is estimated that in the UK around 8 million people suffer from migraines on a regular basis. It is estimated that the average migraine sufferer has a migraine twice a month and of these figures one in every five have to take time off work to handle the migraine.

A neurologist, Dr Nicolas Silver has commented, “People don’t really understand how debilitating migraine headache can be. They are capable of rendering people completely unable to work and often they will need to go home. People generally don’t seem to understand that migraines are much more intense than just a normal headache and they can result in more serious problems such as lethargy, vomiting and nausea.

“It is also often the case that the most common painkillers such as codeine, ibuprofen and paracetamol are not particularly effective at treating the condition. People must find an effective medication for treating their migraines but even these are not always able to remove them completely.” Generally those who suffer a migraine need to go to bed quickly in order to rest but they will often not find sleep as the pain is too intense.

Migraines are something that are more intense than just a normal headache and can even cause sensitivity to sound and light.

It is estimated that one in every four women has [...]]]> Migraines are something that are much more prevalent in women and it is estimated that women are three more times likely to suffer from the condition.

Migraines are something that are more intense than just a normal headache and can even cause sensitivity to sound and light.

It is estimated that one in every four women has suffered a migraine at some point in their lives which makes it one of the most common conditions on the planet. Migraines for often start because the brain becomes excitable, which is something that women are more likely to suffer from.

A researcher on migraines, Dr Andrew Charles has recently said that he believes women are more likely to suffer from migraines because they are more susceptible to the various triggers that can cause them. These triggers are more likely in women to cause brain activity which can lead to a migraine.

There are many additional problems associated with people who suffer from migraines.

For example, it is common to experience nausea and dizziness when suffering from a migraine. There are also often visual symptoms that sufferers have which can affect their vision.

Dr Charles commented, “In a recent study we conducted with mice we found that the female mice, just like in humans, were much more likely to develop a migraine after they were introduced to a migraine trigger.

“In general we found that the female mice were two or three times more likely to develop the migraine than the males. Gender is not the only factor that affects a person’s susceptibility to a migraine however and things such as genetics, the environment, diets, hormones and changes in sleep patterns can all affect a person’s propensity to suffer a migraine.”

There is a general assumption that women are more prone to suffer from migraines when they are menstruating but the study showed that migraines tend not to be more prevalent around this time and they are something that can occur at any point during the month.

Dr Charles continued, “What the study concludes is that female brains are simply more likely to suffer from a migraine. We don’t think that there is any specific link to the menstrual cycle, but it is about the higher intrinsic excitability of the female brain that makes them more prone to migraine triggers.” Other researchers stated that the hormones released during the menstrual period increase the chance of a migraine developing.

Southern Illinois University School of Medicine’s Dr. Tobias Kohler stated that this is the first time that he has heard [...]]]> Men that have been medically diagnosed with erectile dysfunction have a 63% increased risk of also suffering from migraine headaches when compared to men that do not suffer sexual disorders, according to a new Taiwanese study.

Southern Illinois University School of Medicine’s Dr. Tobias Kohler stated that this is the first time that he has heard about a potential correlation between impotence and migraines. Kohler added that it is a very intriguing idea, but the correlation does not mean that the two diseases are necessarily linked or caused by each other.

The authors of the Taiwanese study wrote that they are not clear what the link between headaches and ED may be, but they did not note that women that suffer sexual dysfunction also are already known to be at a higher risk for migraines.

Dr. Chao Yuan Huang who was part of the study along with colleagues from the College of Medicine at the National Taiwan University stated that there has never been a study that has taken a close look at what EDs and migraines may have in common. About 20 million men are thought to suffer from impotence in the US alone.

As part of the study, information from 23,000 men from a Taiwan insurance company was compiled and it was found that about 5,700 of the men had been treated for ED in the past. These patients were then compared to 17,000 men that had not sought out treatment for erectile dysfunction in the past and it was found that a higher amount of those with ED had sought out treatment for migraines then those in the other group.

In fact, about the amount of men with an ED and migraines was almost twice as high when compared to the amount of men without ED that suffered from migraines.

The researchers then took into account differences between the two groups of men such as diabetes and heart disease and discovered that ED patients had a 1.63% increased risk of having a migraine compared to men without ED.

Age also seemed to play a role as men in their thirties that suffered from ED were twice as likely to have a diagnosis of migraines while those older in age with erectile dysfunction had a lower incidence rate. The authors speculated that it chronic pain may lead to sexual dysfunction explaining the link.

The implant is roughly the size of an almond and is placed into the gum so that it connects to facial nerves that are responsible for sending pain signals when a migraine attack [...]]]> A revolutionary, albeit odd, way to treat migraine pain is in the works that involves placing a small device inside of the gum.

The implant is roughly the size of an almond and is placed into the gum so that it connects to facial nerves that are responsible for sending pain signals when a migraine attack occurs.

The device signals the nerves not to radiate pain allowing the migraine sufferer to get almost instant relief from the attack. When a patient feels as if they are about to have a migraine, they simply press a remote control handset on their cheek.

When the button on the remote control is pressed, the implant sends a small electrical current across the nerves in the face preventing the pain signals from reaching the brain and as a result the migraine sufferer is allowed relief.

At the moment the new device is being used in several different European trials and is being used on patients that suffer from four or more migraine attacks per month, cannot find relief from alternative drug treatments, or have migraine pain at least eight days every month.

One in ten people in the UK suffer from migraines with women oftentimes more affected then men. Symptoms of a migraine include but are not limited to severe headaches, nausea, and visual oddities such as blind spots or flashing lights.

Many people find relief from mild attacks by taking over the counter medications such as ibuprofen or paracetamol while others that suffer from severe migraines are treated with heavier medications such as triptans. However, when used frequently the body builds up a tolerance to many of these drugs and they can actually start to cause migraines known as ‘rebound headaches.’

As a result, scientists have spent the last few years looking at ways to relieve migraine pain without the use of drugs leading them to look at devices that can stimulate the nerves to respond in a different manner.

The nerve cells process pain signals and then send the pain signals to the brain, therefore, if the process is blocked the brain will not be able to process that the patient is in pain. The original device was a tiny implant that was placed close to the collar bone, but the latest device, is much more discreet and can be hidden away from notice in the gum.

Most people are not at their happiest or most productive when they are suffering pain of any sort, but whether pain leads to depression or vice versa is still [...]]]> There is little doubt that mental health and physical health are connected in ways that are only partially understood by the medical community or the general public.

Most people are not at their happiest or most productive when they are suffering pain of any sort, but whether pain leads to depression or vice versa is still a matter of debate in many circles.

One example is a recent study conducted among more than 36,000 female participants over a period of fourteen years.

Of those women, 6,456 had suffered and/or were suffering migraines, and more than half of them were also suffering from depression at the end of the fourteen years. Researchers concluded from this that women who have suffered from migraines are about 40% more likely to suffer clinical depression than those who haven’t.

Dr. Daniel Kantor, one of the leading experts in the field of neurology, offered some insight into the study’s findings and conclusions. He suggests that women who see a doctor because of pain symptoms are more likely to be diagnosed with depression simply because they’re seeing a doctor who is qualified to recognise the condition.

Kantor also noted that both migraine and depression are ’caused’ by alterations in neural transmitters, so it’s not surprising that there is a link. However, he said, it is also just as likely that depression causes migraines as that migraines cause depression – the link is fairly well established, but it’s partly a question of which comes first. Many of the treatments prescribed for migraine are the same as those for depression.

One of the frequent effects of this disabling affliction is nausea and vomiting, which tends to nullify the usefulness of oral medication; if a sufferer vomits soon after swallowing a pill or liquid pain reliever, [...]]]> For millions of people who suffer from migraine, the search for effective pain relief is a frustrating (and painful) ongoing process.

One of the frequent effects of this disabling affliction is nausea and vomiting, which tends to nullify the usefulness of oral medication; if a sufferer vomits soon after swallowing a pill or liquid pain reliever, there’s not much chance for it to be assimilated into the bloodstream.

Another problem along these lines is known as gastric stasis – a delayed emptying of the stomach. In this case a significant amount of the pain medication may have been digested and assimilated, but the patient takes another dose assuming the first dose was vomited up. When this happens, an overdose can occur, with possibly severe negative consequences.

One solution to these problems is an alternative delivery system that doesn’t require digestion, and the latest candidate is Levadex, currently in the final stages of testing by MAP Pharmaceuticals. Levadex, previously known as MAP0004, is administered by the patient via MAP’s proprietary TEMPO inhaler.

The medication is delivered to the bloodstream through the lungs instead of the digestive system, negating the risks associated with the oral delivery system.

Levadex is not an entirely new drug, but the patented inhaler is a new means of delivery, which could make a big difference to many migraine sufferers. Those who cannot tolerate injections, or for whom oral medication is not effective may well find that Levadex is an excellent alternative. It certainly appears that Levadex will be a valuable addition to the range of options for migraineurs.