Migraine Overview
It's not pain you're likely to forget if you've ever experienced it. The excruciating throb of a migraine, often accompanied by nausea or sensitivity to light and sound can be brutally painful. As anyone who's suffered a migraine can tell you, these headaches, when left untreated or treated ineffectively, can disrupt every aspect of a person's life, from the ability to work to day-to-day activities and relationships. They can eventually lead to a loss of self-confidence, sense of control and self-esteem.
In the U.S. alone, as many as 28 million women and men-roughly 13 percent of the population-suffer from migraine headaches, according to the American Migraine Study II.
Women experience migraines three times more frequently than men. Researchers have found that migraines have a greater overall impact on the lives of female sufferers, affecting their self-esteem, professional development and family and social life.
What are Migraines?
Migraine is a biologically based disorder. Its symptoms are the result of changes in the brain, not a weakness in character or an inappropriate reaction to stress. For many years, scientists believed migraines were linked to the dilation and constriction of blood vessels in the head. They now believe migraine is caused by inherited abnormalities in certain cells in the brain. People with migraine have an enduring predisposition to attacks triggered by a range of factors. Specific, abnormal genes have been identified for some forms of migraine.
People who get migraine headaches, then, appear to have special sensitivities to various triggers, such as bright lights, odors, stress, weather changes or certain foods and beverages.
If you get a migraine, you may experience an aura 10 to 30 minutes before the attack. An aura may cause the sensation of seeing flashing lights or zigzag lines, or you may temporarily lose vision. Other classic symptoms include speech difficulty, weakness of an arm or leg, tingling of the face or hands and confusion. About 20 percent of migraine victims experience an aura prior to an attack. Even if you don't have an aura, you may experience a variety of vague symptoms beforehand, including mental fuzziness, mood changes, fatigue and unusual retention of fluids.
The pain of a migraine is described as intense, throbbing or pounding and is felt in the forehead, temple, ear, and jaw, around the eye or over the entire head. It may include nausea and vomiting, and can last a few hours, a day, or even up to three or four days.
Migraines can strike as often as several times a week, or as rarely as once every few years. Some women experience migraines at predictable times--near the time that menstruation begins or every Saturday morning after a stressful workweek.
In addition to the classic migraine described above, migraine headaches can take several other forms:
Hemiplegic migraine: Patients with hemiplegic migraine have temporary paralysis on one side of the body, a condition known as hemiplegia. Some people may experience vision problems and vertigo--a feeling that the world is spinning. These symptoms begin 10 to 90 minutes before the onset of headache pain.
Ophthalmoplegic migraine: In ophthalmoplegic migraine, the pain is around the eye and is associated with a droopy eyelid, double vision and other sight problems.
Basilar artery migraine: Basilar artery migraine involves a disturbance of a major brain artery. Preheadache symptoms include vertigo, double vision and poor muscular coordination. This type of migraine occurs primarily in adolescent and young adult women and is often associated with the menstrual cycle.
Status migrainosus: This is a rare and severe type of migraine that can last 72 hours or longer. The pain and nausea are so intense sufferers often must be hospitalized. The use of certain drugs can trigger status migrainosus. Neurologists report that many of their status migrainosus patients were depressed and anxious before they experienced headache attacks.
Headache-free migraine: This type is characterized by such migraine symptoms as visual problems, nausea, vomiting, constipation or diarrhea. Patients, however, do not experience head pain. Headache specialists have suggested that unexplained pain in a particular part of the body, fever and dizziness could also be possible types of headache-free migraine.
In the U.S. alone, as many as 28 million women and men-roughly 13 percent of the population-suffer from migraine headaches, according to the American Migraine Study II.
Women experience migraines three times more frequently than men. Researchers have found that migraines have a greater overall impact on the lives of female sufferers, affecting their self-esteem, professional development and family and social life.
What are Migraines?
Migraine is a biologically based disorder. Its symptoms are the result of changes in the brain, not a weakness in character or an inappropriate reaction to stress. For many years, scientists believed migraines were linked to the dilation and constriction of blood vessels in the head. They now believe migraine is caused by inherited abnormalities in certain cells in the brain. People with migraine have an enduring predisposition to attacks triggered by a range of factors. Specific, abnormal genes have been identified for some forms of migraine.
People who get migraine headaches, then, appear to have special sensitivities to various triggers, such as bright lights, odors, stress, weather changes or certain foods and beverages.
If you get a migraine, you may experience an aura 10 to 30 minutes before the attack. An aura may cause the sensation of seeing flashing lights or zigzag lines, or you may temporarily lose vision. Other classic symptoms include speech difficulty, weakness of an arm or leg, tingling of the face or hands and confusion. About 20 percent of migraine victims experience an aura prior to an attack. Even if you don't have an aura, you may experience a variety of vague symptoms beforehand, including mental fuzziness, mood changes, fatigue and unusual retention of fluids.
The pain of a migraine is described as intense, throbbing or pounding and is felt in the forehead, temple, ear, and jaw, around the eye or over the entire head. It may include nausea and vomiting, and can last a few hours, a day, or even up to three or four days.
Migraines can strike as often as several times a week, or as rarely as once every few years. Some women experience migraines at predictable times--near the time that menstruation begins or every Saturday morning after a stressful workweek.
In addition to the classic migraine described above, migraine headaches can take several other forms:
Hemiplegic migraine: Patients with hemiplegic migraine have temporary paralysis on one side of the body, a condition known as hemiplegia. Some people may experience vision problems and vertigo--a feeling that the world is spinning. These symptoms begin 10 to 90 minutes before the onset of headache pain.
Ophthalmoplegic migraine: In ophthalmoplegic migraine, the pain is around the eye and is associated with a droopy eyelid, double vision and other sight problems.
Basilar artery migraine: Basilar artery migraine involves a disturbance of a major brain artery. Preheadache symptoms include vertigo, double vision and poor muscular coordination. This type of migraine occurs primarily in adolescent and young adult women and is often associated with the menstrual cycle.
Status migrainosus: This is a rare and severe type of migraine that can last 72 hours or longer. The pain and nausea are so intense sufferers often must be hospitalized. The use of certain drugs can trigger status migrainosus. Neurologists report that many of their status migrainosus patients were depressed and anxious before they experienced headache attacks.
Headache-free migraine: This type is characterized by such migraine symptoms as visual problems, nausea, vomiting, constipation or diarrhea. Patients, however, do not experience head pain. Headache specialists have suggested that unexplained pain in a particular part of the body, fever and dizziness could also be possible types of headache-free migraine.
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