Cure Migraines

People who suffer migraines know the pain of the condition: the lost work days, the sensitivity to light, the nausea and vomiting, the inability to think clearly, the splitting headache, visual disturbances, even mood swings that can be caused. For many, these last from hours to even days, and while there is a host of traditional therapies, including drugs like Imitrex, some people are not candidates due to heart problems or they simply don’t like taking prescription medications.

44. Verily, We did send down the Taurat (Torah) [to Musa (Moses)], therein was guidance and light, by which the Prophets, who submitted themselves to Allah's Will, judged the Jews. And the rabbis and the priests [too judged the Jews by the Taurat (Torah) after those Prophets] for to them was entrusted the protection of Allah's Book, and they were witnesses thereto. Therefore fear not men but fear Me (O Jews) and sell not My Verses for a miserable price. And whosoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, such are the Kafirun(i.e. disbelievers - of a lesser degree as they do not act on Allah's Laws ).

45. And We ordained therein for them: "Life for life , eye for eye, nose for nose, ear for ear, tooth for tooth, and wounds equal for equal." But if anyone remits the retaliation by way of charity, it shall be for him an expiation. And whosoever does not judge by that which Allah has revealed, such are the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers - of a lesser degree). 5. Surah Al-Ma'idah (The Table Spread with Food)

For these people, there is good news on the horizon: massage might actually help withmigraines. As with most alternative medicine, there will always be people who are reluctant to try it, but some people are so debilitated they will try anything to get rid of migraines.

Zoe Soane can’t remember a time that she didn’t suffer from migraines.
“I’ve had migraines since I was 13, it would be hard to summarize the incapacitating effect of them. I couldn’t look at magazine print, too small, I couldn’t look at a computer screen, too bright, the glare off a windshield or something in an instant I would have a migraine. I was in bed with an episode of spinning, and I thought I’m going to three more appointments and then I’m going to kill myself. And then I caught myself and thought, that’s extreme but I thought I was a burden to my husband.”

With many triggers for migraine, it’s important to distinguish what causes them. It could be light, perfume, allergies, food, alcohol, or even stress.

But, if eliminating these does not work, massage therapy can be a wonderful adjunct, or used alone, to fight migraine headache. Soane was referred a physical therapist for a neck issue, but quickly found the treatment could double as a way to give her some migraine relief through a simple head massage.

Physiologically, this makes sense as it may reduce constriction and dilation of blood vessels in the head, often believed to be the cause of migraine headaches. Soane says the massage has truly changed her life.
“Initially, he was pressing on my head lightly, and I felt worse and that actually to me was reassuring because I thought if he can make this happen because he’s inside of the control box.”

Other patients have reported amazing results as well from physiotherapy, in conjunction with or without other therapies.

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA—If you've ever had a migraine, you know it's no ordinary headache: In addition to throbbing waves of excruciating pain, symptoms often include nausea, visual disturbances, and acute sensitivity to sounds, smells, and light. Although there's no cure for the debilitating headaches, which affect roughly 10% of people worldwide, researchers are starting to untangle their cause and find more effective treatments. Here today at the annual meeting of AAAS (which publishes Science), Science sat down with Teshamae Monteith, a clinical neurologist at the University of Miami Health System in Florida, today to discuss the latest advances in the field.

Q: How is our understanding of migraine evolving?

A: It's more complicated than we thought. In the past, researchers thought of migraine as a blood vessel disorder, in part because some patients can feel a temple pulsation during a migraine attack. Now, migraine is considered a sensory perceptual disorder, because so many of the sensory systems—light, sound, smell, hearing—are altered. During an attack, patients have concentration impairments, appetite changes, mood changes, and sleeping is off. What fascinates me is that patients are often bothered by manifestations of migraine, such as increased sensitivity to light, in between attacks, suggesting that they may be wired differently, or their neurobiology may be altered. About two-thirds of patients with acute migraine attacks have allodynia, a condition that makes people so sensitive to certain stimuli that even steam from a shower can be incredibly painful. One way to view it is that migraineurs at baseline are at a different threshold for sensory stimuli.

Q: What is the most cutting-edge treatment today?

A: The mainstay acute treatment for migraines are a class of drugs called triptans, which act on serotonin receptors. Serotonin is thought to be the underlying neurotransmitter involved in migraine, based on a lower than normal level of serotonin (5-HT) which increases during attacks. There's also a strong relationship between depression [which is linked to abnormal serotonin levels] and migraines: People with depression are more likely to get migraines, and people with migraines are more likely to be depressed. It's not entirely clear how triptans work, but they are able to abort attacks in some patients. They are wonderful drugs, but not everyone responds. The field is now wide open for new drug targets, especially ones that do not constrict blood vessels like the triptans.

Q: What are some promising new treatments?

A: One new drug targets a substance called CGRP—calcitonin gene-related peptide—thought to be one of the peptides that's released during an acute migraine attack. A multicenter, randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled preventive study [in which different doses of the CGRP-targeting drug, telcagepant, were given to people with migraine] showed some liver enzyme abnormalities in a small subset of patients so it failed to pass the safety requirements although the data suggested a potential role. But now there's an antibody version that has completed the phase II studies and is considered the hottest new thing in the field. It was too small of a trial to really determine effectiveness, but it is still really exciting because it's the first trial which suggests that a drug which targets CGRP can be safe.

Q: To what extent is migraine inherited?

A: The genetics need some work because migraine so complicated, but for most patients we're able to tie it to a family history. As a medical resident in 2008, I learned about three genes associated with hemiplegic migraine, a condition in which people go weak on one side. Now, a number of additional genes have been associated with migraine. Some are associated with glutamate, a neurotransmitter associated with excitatory functioning. A lot of brain systems utilize glutamate—a major excitatory neurotransmitter—so blocking it may have some challenges.

Q: What risk factors have you found for migraine?

A: Migraine usually presents itself in adolescence or preadolescence; women are more likely to have migraines around their menstrual cycles and the headaches seem to happen in response to hormonal changes in men as well. Low socioeconomic status as well as obesity, and poor sleep also increase the frequency of attacks. Lesions in brain tissue called infarctions are complications of migraine, and risk factors such as smoking and oral contraception may increase the risk. 

Q: What are some challenges to studying migraine in the brain?

A: Right now we're stuck with animal models that don't exactly mimic the complexities of the human brain or even a migraine attack. Human brain imaging has a much greater potential and has exciting applications in migraine. With brain imaging, we are able to better understand the structures, connections, and chemicals that are involved in migraine. In addition, postmortem studies of the brains of people who have suffered migraine may be helpful in better understanding the etiology of white matter lesions commonly associated with migraine, currently of unknown etiology. However, it can be difficult to interpret such studies because what caused someone to expire—stroke, cancer, etc.—might change the brain.

Your Migraine Trigger Hit List

The list of potential migraine triggers is a long one, and thepossible combinations that could add up to your migraine is even longer. But paying attention to the various triggers that are going on simultaneously can lead to better migraine control. Here are key migraine “risk factors” to be aware of:

1. Too much or too little sleep
2. Overeating or going too long without eating
3. Change in severity of stress levels
4. Excess caffeine or drastically reducing the amount you’re used to
5. Dehydration
6. Extreme exercise
7. Getting your period
8. Drinking alcohol
9. Eating certain foods
10. Smoking
11. Being in excessive heat
12. Lights
13. Experiencing neck pain
14. Certain odors, such as perfume

Migraines aren't just a problem for adults -- about 6 percent of children and more than one-quarter of teens aged 15 to 17 have migraines, according to the American Migraine Foundation (AMF).

"There are many things that can be done if your child suffers from migraine, or if you suspect that he or she does," foundation chair Dr. David Dodick, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Scottsdale, Ariz., said in an AMF news release.

If you suspect your child has migraines, take him or her to a doctor to be assessed and receive treatment if necessary. Options include treatment to stop the pain and prevent a migraine from getting worse, along with measures to prevent or reduce the frequency, severity and duration of migraines.

If your child is prescribed a migraine medication, it's important for you to make sure he or she takes the medicine as directed. Inform your doctor if there are changes in your child's migraines, such as becoming more frequent or severe. A new treatment approach may be required, according to the headache experts.

A number of factors may contribute to your child's migraines, such as too little or too much sleep or stress. Parents need to help their children follow healthy lifestyles and cope with stress. Recent research in stress management suggests that a type of counseling called cognitive behavioral therapy can benefit children with chronic headache, according to the AMF.

Other potentially helpful stress-control techniques include relaxation therapy and biofeedback.

Keeping a migraine diary can help youngsters understand why they get migraines and how to prevent them. The diary tracks migraines, the severity, how long they last, what patients were doing before and during the migraine, and what foods they ate.

Mobile phone apps may be an ideal way for children and teens to tracks their migraines and to take their medications as prescribed, the experts suggested.

If you always love your job and your workplace is a totally relaxing environment, you don’t need advice on migraines and stress. But if, like the rest of us, you experience a fair amount of stress at work, that can spell migraine. 

To make living with migraine headaches easier, you want to figure out what and where your migraine triggers are. For many people, the workplace is a trigger-happy environment. You can pinpoint your office triggers by keeping a migraine headache diary and including interactions with coworkers and your boss.

Studies show that the type of stress most likely to trigger migraine is everyday stress, not occasional big deal stress like getting married or having a baby. “Stress is by far the most common trigger for migraine,” says Noah Rosen, MD, director of the Headache Center at North Shore-LIJ’s Cushing Neuroscience Institute in Manhasset, N.Y.

“The reason stress is such a big trigger is because it often comes along with lots of other triggers like change in diet, loss of sleep, skipped meals, or too much caffeine.” A lot of those can result from dealing with a high-stress job or a heavy workload.

Common Workplace Triggers

Stress at work could involve disagreeable or difficult coworkers or a boss that rubs you the wrong way, working late, working under a deadline, or just working when you would rather be doing almost anything else.

RELATED: 6 Cheap, Natural, and Quick Chronic Pain Remedies

Making matters worse, while stress may be the most common trigger, it's not the only one. Other possibilities include: 

Lighting. Bright light, flickering light, and light from computer screens can all trigger a migraine headache because of sensory pathways involved with migrines. A study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience found that people with migraine are so sensitive to light that even migraineurs with vision so poor they're legally blind experience worse pain when exposed to light.

Odors. Your coworkers don’t need to be emotionally stressful to trigger a migraine — if they're smoking near your workplace or wearing a strong cologne, that alone could trigger your migraine. Other odor producing triggers at work could be chemicals or cleaning products.

Noise. A noisy workplace could be your migraine trigger. Loud or sudden noise can trigger a migraine or make it worse.

Food and drink. There are many types of food that may trigger a migraine, so it is important to keep track of what you eat at work, especially if you go off your diet during a break at work. Common triggers are lunch meats, chocolate, and Chinese food if it has MSG. Even an artificial sweetener dumped into a quick cup of coffee could be the culprit.

Overexertion. If your work requires periods a significant physical exertion, that could be your migraine trigger. On the other hand, regular physical activity can be good for migraine. 

Travel. If your job requires you to travel, migraine triggers can be changes in your sleeping and eating patterns. Travel may also trigger migraine through changes in temperature, motion sickness, changes in altitude, even the stress of waiting in lines at the airport.

Tips for Living With Migraine and Avoiding Your Triggers

Recognizing your personal triggers is key. That’s where keeping a migraine diary comes in. Write down changes in your mood, stress level, sleep, foods, even the weather. It may take some time before you can see patterns and clearly know what to avoid. In the meantime, try these self-care soothers:

• Learn how to relax at your workstation with deep breathing, meditation, or just listening to your favorite music through earbuds.
• Eat a healthy diet, and don’t skip meals.
• Get regular hours of sleep.
• Drink plenty of fluids during the day.
• Reduce glare at work. Don’t sit under flickering or fluorescent lighting, and place a glare screen over your computer.

Frustrating as migraines are, you can exert some control over them. A study published in the journal Cephalalgia followed 91 patients with migraine headaches. One group of patients exercised for 40 minutes three times per week. One group of patients listened to relaxations tapes, and a third group took a daily migraine prevention medication. After three months, all three groups had a reduction in their migraines — exercise and relaxation worked as well as medication. No matter how busy your workday, it's important to make time formigraine prevention, especially with relaxation or exercise.