Migraine

More than 28 million Americans suffer from migraine. Women tend to develop migraine more often than men. It is one of the most common illnesses in our population. Migraine usually attacks only one side of the head. In some cases the attack also wanders to the other side. The attack is severe and can be described as a sharp piercing, hammering or also throbbing pain. The International Headache Society declared the length of an attack to last about 4-72 hours.

80% of the migraine attacks are accompanied by nausea and loss of appetite; 50% even by vomiting. Some patients also report about a higher sensitivity to light (60%); to noise (40%) and to smells (10%). Any physical activity during an attack can enhance the pain.

Migraine is classified in two types: Migraine with aura; and migraine without aura.

Migraine without aura is the most prevalent form with 85% of the afflicted suffering from this type, whereas 15% are diagnosed with Migraine with aura.

Aura as a medical term stands for certain signals predicting an upcoming migraine-attack, such as impaired vision including diplopic images or flickering lights; giddiness, speech disorder and even one-sided paralysis.

A Migraine attack usually consists of different phases:

• The pre or introducing-phase
  usually initiates a migraine-attack with sudden hunger-pangs; high irritability and an unwell feel.
• The pre or introducing-phase in the case of migraine with aura
  occurs around 60 minutes beforehand and strikes with giddiness, speech problems and impaired vision.
• The migraine-attack
  brings forth the typical symptoms such as a severe one-sided headache in form of a piercing or throbbing pain; a high sensitivity to light and noise; nausea and vomiting. In this period the agony usually constrains the patient from any physical activity and forces him or her to endure the attack resting in a dark and quiet environment.
• In the Recovery phase
  the symptoms slowly disappear.

The frequency of an attack varies. Some patients suffer from weekly attacks whereas others complain about attacks appearing every couple of weeks.

What are the causes of a migraine-attack?

A migraine-attack is not to be confused with a headache. The causes are of different origin. In the case of a migraine-attack the neurotransmitter serotin fails to sufficiently execute his duties. An inflammation of the brains blood vessels is the consequence. The throbbing headache is due to the pulsating bloodstream flowing through these inflamed blood vessels. The inflammation also irritates the nerves which is the cause for the typical symptoms of nausea, vomiting and headache.

What triggers a migraine?

Every migraine-patient has his own story to tell when it comes to the question: what triggers your migraine-attack?

The most frequent are:

• Sleep disorders: too much sleep or to little sleep or a irregular sleep pattern (e.g. sleeping in on weekends and getting up early during the week)
• Hormones: women complain about frequent migraine-attacks during their period, which decrease during pregnancy. The conclusion is that the female hormone, including the use of the birth-control pill, acts as a migraine-trigger.
• Strenuous physical activity
• Outside influences: such as a weather or climate change; noise; glaring light; flashes and strong smells.
• Recovering and relaxing after a stressful task (e.g. relaxing after a hard day's work)
• Diet: especially the consumption of red wine, as it reinforces the production of serotin, and also the intake of long-ripened cheese.
• Drugs: nicotine abuse