What is migraine?
Migraine is a chronic, paroxysmal, neurovascular disease that can begin at any age, as early as elementary school, but generally starts in early adulthood, with frequency decreasing in later years. While they usually disappear later in life, attacks can occur at any time.
Migraine is a chronic disorder characterized by recurrent, potentially debilitating headaches, often associated with several symptoms including disability and impaired performance, primarily affecting the autonomic nervous system. The hemicranial and throbbing nature of migraine is its most distinctive feature, differentiating it from other types of headaches.
What are the symptoms of migraine?
Migraines are moderate to severe in intensity, usually characterized by a throbbing or pounding sensation. Although often unilateral, they can occur anywhere or all over the head, neck, and face. In the worst cases, they are often associated with sensitivity to light, noise, and smells. Nausea is one of the most common symptoms and worsens with activity.
What makes diagnosing migraine pain difficult is that it can be confused with other health problems depending on its location. It might be felt in the face and mistaken for sinus pain, or felt in the neck and mistaken for arthritis or muscle spasms.
Two clinical symptoms have been identified in relation to migraine: with aura and without aura. Aura is a transient neurological symptom that progresses slowly and typically resolves when the pain begins, preceding the migraine headache. Sensitivity to light and sound is present in both types, and exacerbation of the pain with head movement is typical. Both types are preceded by vague changes in mood and appetite.
Migraines with aura often initially involve visual disturbances (flashing lights, zigzags, blind spots), while many people experience sensory disturbances, numbness, confusion, difficulty speaking, dizziness, and other stroke-like neurological symptoms. This is followed by a headache, nausea, and sometimes vomiting; the headache can last for several hours or 1-2 days. Migraine without aura is characterized by a sudden onset headache that develops over minutes or longer, accompanied by nausea or vomiting, then follows the same transient pattern as migraine with aura.
What triggers migraines?
Things that can increase the likelihood of headaches occurring include:
Alcohol,
Weather changes,
Sleep deprivation,
Changes to the program,
Dehydration,
Hunger,
Specific foods,
Strong scents,
Grinding teeth at night,
Piece
How is migraine treated?
Migraine treatment includes non-drug preventive methods and drug treatment for attacks.
Migraines are generally treated preventively with a combination of dietary changes, lifestyle modifications, vitamins, and daily prescription medications.
Many of these medications are also used for other medical purposes; the majority are blood pressure medications, antidepressants, or epilepsy medications.
Headache attacks are usually treated with one or more of the following types of medication: triptans, ergotamine, pain relievers, anti-nausea medications, and neuroleptics.
Migraines typically last from a few hours to several days and respond well to certain treatments. If left untreated or with incorrect treatment, intermittent migraines can develop into essentially chronic daily headaches with persistent and disruptive symptoms that periodically escalate into a “full-blown” migraine. This condition is extremely difficult to treat.
Migraines are considered primary headaches, meaning they have no known underlying cause. However, migraines are associated with an increased risk of stroke, brain scarring as seen on MRI scans, a heart defect called patent foramen ovale (PFO), and other medical conditions.