Migraines

Summer isn’t any fun when you have a headache. But for many of the 30 million Americans who suffer from migraine headaches, solutions for soothing headache symptoms may be just around the corner.

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It’s a fact that, chronic tension headaches can be a potentially debilitating condition that seriously deprives the patient of life enjoyment. Daily activities are subject to interruption by painful episodes that can occur any time.

Chronic tension headaches can easily lead to depression and a general pain crisis. It is important that chronic tension headaches receive prompt attention and medical care. Fortunately, the medical community is very experienced with the problem of chronic tension headache, and has several avenues of treatment available for sufferers. In fact, headaches are actually divided into three individual categories.

The majority of headaches suffered can fit into the primary category. A primary headache is frequently brought on by emotional or physical stress, and is the most common form of headache by far. Primary headaches are almost never life threatening, but they can bring serious pain with them. This pain can hamper everyday enjoyment of life, making even basic functioning difficult. Although the exact causes remain something of a mystery, it is widely held that the symptoms are brought on by a tightening of the muscles that surround the base of the skull. This tightening can be initially identified as a band like feeling just above the eyes that gradually grows into a painful sensation.

Cluster and secondary headaches occur on a far less frequent basis, but are much more serious. To treat this kind of headache, the attention of a specialist is most likely required. Cluster headaches are easily identified by the pain level that they induce. Patients frequently describe cluster headaches as like having an icepick driven into the eye. Treatment includes powerful sedatives and pain medications. Secondary headaches usually indicate some other issue that is at work.

A chronic tension headache should be treated with an eye toward stress management. Physical and emotional stress can be a significant source of chronic tension headaches. Circumstances that trigger significant emotional stress can easily lead to chronic tension headaches. Prolonged physical stress is another potential cause of chronic tension headaches. Steps to manage both kinds of stress are necessary to bring the problem under control. If these steps do not succeed, then further treatment via pain medications may be necessary. Chronic tension headaches that occur on a regular basis should be a signal to see a doctor.

MAP Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: MAPP) announced that the efficacy portion of its first Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating its novel LEVADEX™ orally inhaled migraine therapy met all four primary endpoints. Additional endpoints showed that LEVADEX provided rapid and sustained pain relief for up to 48 hours after dosing.

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A pain condition common in people with migraines also has a high prevalence in patients with cluster headache, according to a study conducted by researchers at the Jefferson Headache Center at Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience. Approximately half of a group of patients with cluster headaches experienced cutaneous allodynia, a condition that causes patients to have pain as a response to normally inconspicuous sensations, according to Michael Marmura, M.D.

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Sometimes the problems associated with frequent headaches can become so severe and life impairing that special treatment is required. Fortunately, headache clinics across the country can offer help. Although the vast majority of headaches are transitory and minor problems, some portions of the population suffer from headaches that strike so frequently and so painfully that their lives are interrupted. In these cases, preventive measures should be undertaken as much as possible. Headache Clinics can be a effective treatment of the problem and can help to restore quality of life and daily function.

The medical community has done significant research, leading to a three part categorization of headaches. Primary headaches are what the vast majority of sufferers experience, and they are very rarely life threatening. Despite sometimes severe pain, over the counter medicine is usually effective. Such medications are usually enough to mitigate the pain significantly. Primary headaches are typically caused when tension or stress makes the muscles around the skull contract painfully, introducing too much pressure.

Cluster and secondary headaches frequently require treatment at headache clinics in order to provide relief. These serious headaches can occur seemingly at any time, causing severe pain in the sufferer. Cluster headaches come about in groupings, with patients sometimes going a year or more with no symptoms. A cluster headache can be identified by the severe pain experienced, as well as a runny nose or eyes. In these cases, treatment should be sought as soon as possible. Secondary headaches can be indicative of more serious issues in the brain. These kinds of problems should be treated at headache clinics. Although relieving pain with these varieties of headache can be difficult, there are medications designed to provide relief under these circumstances.

It is also very important that the cause of secondary headaches be promptly identified. A secondary headache typically indicates a deeper brain issue, and it is vital that these issues receive attention at headache clinics, or by another specialist. Specialists at headache clinics like the Mayo Clinic are very well equipped to diagnose and treat the problems associated with severe headache pain. A Headache Clinic can be found around the world, and should be visited when chronic headaches cannot be treated normally. As chronic headaches can also be a symptom of other issues, it is important to seek prompt medical care.

Patients living with migraine have strong reason for new optimism concerning a positive future. Two review articles and an accompanying editorial, “The Future of Migraine: Beyond Just Another Pill,” in the current issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, are the basis for an ironic premise. “Migraine is a potentially chronic, progressive disease that substantially affects patients, families, workplaces, and society,” according to the editorial written by Roger Cady, M.D.

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MAP Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: MAPP) announced that the efficacy portion of its first Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating its novel LEVADEX(TM) orally inhaled migraine therapy met all four primary endpoints. Additional endpoints showed that LEVADEX provided rapid and sustained pain relief for up to 48 hours after dosing.

More: continued here

Headaches in any form are always very painful to the sufferer. However, some headaches, like migraines, for example, can cause even more problems than just a headache. These problems could be sickness, light sensitivity and a throbbing pain in the head. Sometimes the headache is felt on one side of the head, although at other times you can feel the pain on both sides of your head at the same time.

The actual causes of migraine headaches has not been discovered as of yet, although there are a few theories as to why people experience migraine headaches. The most common theory is that a change in the blood flow within the brain is one of the trigger causes of migraine headaches. Another theory about migraine headache is that it could be caused by pain sensing nerve chemicals called neuropeptides.

Many medical professionals think that neuropeptides relax the smooth muscle that surrounds the cranial blood vessels. This relaxation causes the blood vessels to dilate. This blood vessel relaxation increases the flow of blood and other cranial fluid to the brain. This increase in fluids is thought to be the cause of migraine headaches.

These cranial fluids cause inflammation, pain, sensitivity, tissue and blood vessel inflammation during the time of migraine headaches. Some people think that the aura that is sometimes seen during a migraine headache is caused by the constriction of blood vessels that became dilated during the beginning phase of the migraine headache.

Another theory as to the causes of migraine headaches has been associated with the genetics of inheritance. These theories say that a child of migraine sufferers will have a 50% probability of getting migraine headaches too.

The probability of having migraine headaches becomes even greater if both parents are sufferers from this painful type of headache. If both parents are known to have frequent migraine headaches the chances of the child having migraine headache symptoms rises to about 70%.

However, even though some professionals think that genetics plays a role in migraine headaches, the genes that are considered to be the causes of migraine headaches have not been identified or even isolated. When we begin to experience migraine headaches the only warning signs that we may expect to receive are a throbbing pain in the temple area and slight sickness.

As the symptoms of the migraine progresses, the pain becomes much more severe. Unfortunately, since the causes of migraine headaches have not been discovered and we dont know what triggers these attacks, there are no medications to cure this sort of headaches yet.

Migraines are horrible to get under normal circumstances, it’s evn worse when you’re pregnant.

Here we will look at migraine triggers, keeping a migraine diary to help identify your trigger and finally avoiding the migraine triggers.

Try these easy steps to help relieve or stop your pregnancy migraine.

1. Triggers of Migraines

Sometimes it appears that migraines occur for no apparent reason. However, something tends to trigger migraines even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time. Triggers can be all sorts of things.

Cheese, chocolate and foods with additives(e.g. tyramine) along with drinks like coffee, tea and red wine. Being tired Too much or too little sleep, tiredness, bright or flashing lights strong smells

Not having meals at regular times, stress or the time following a stressful situation, excessive noise, weather conditions, feeling tired due to lack of sleep or even getting too much sleep as well as bright flashing lights.

2. Keep A Migraine Diary

To try and understand what triggers your migraine you can use a migraine diary to log when they occur.

Log details such as date and time of migraine, foods you have eaten, medication you may have taken, sleep patterns, whether you feel tired, activities you have been doing. You can also record how severe you feel each migraine is.

It can often be a combination of different factors that causes you to have a migraine.

3. Remove The Cause of Your Migraine

By now you should see a pattern, this will help you find the cause or even causes of the migraines. It is a good idea to still complete your diary and log the improvements in your situation while removing the triggers from your daily life.

There are many additional health risks to having a baby. Let’s have a look at the association of migraines during pregnancy and the increase in risk to you and your baby.

Experiencing migraines while pregnant has been linked to an increase in the chance of having a stroke, according to a study in the United States. It found that you were fifteen times more likely to have a stroke compared to woman who were not pregnant.

More than thirty three thousand women, who were pregnant and suffering from migraines, were used to provide the information.

Other factors involved were age. Women over forty were found to be more at risk, being 2.5 times more likely to experience a migraine while pregnant than those that were less than 20. It was also discovered that white women experienced more migraines whilst pregnant than other races or ethnicities.

It is beleived that the cardiovascular system is not operating correctly and that the migraine is simply a sympton of this. There are links with migraines and increased risks of high cholesterol, blood clots, heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

The producers of the study believe the best explanation of the results is the interaction of migraines and the natural physiological changes that occur while pregnant (e.g. an increase in heart rate and blood volume) and that this results in additional stress on the vascular system.

Previous studies have pointed towards a problem with the cells that make up the inner wall of blood vessels. It is thought that they don’t function correctly when a woman is pregnant and also suffers from migraines.

The findings continue to solidify the belief that migraines, and especially those with an aura or visual change at the same time, are linked to women also suffering heart disease and strokes.