Health Remedies and Medical Treatment

Posts Tagged ‘migraine attacks’

Daily use of 600 mg magnesium shows the occurrence of migraine attacks to be reduced.
Magnesium may well affect the fase constriction and the release and activity of serotonin.

This is the result of a well designed (double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized) study by Dr. A. Peikert the Department of Neurology and Clinical Neuropsychology at the Munich-health care

Seventy people have more than two years with migraine were members after a preparatory period of four weeks either a daily 600 mg magnesium (trimagnesiumdicitraat) or a placebo. After twelve weeks showed the number of migraine attacks in the group who received magnesium had steadily decreased to a total of 41.6%. In the placebo group, the reduction in the number of attacks, only 15.8%. The total number of days with migraine was in the magnesium group decreased by 49%, against 21% in the group who had received a placebo. But some complained (18.6%) of patients who had received magnesium on diarrhea, and 4.7% for stomach complaints.

The attacks in the magnesium group were lighter and less drug use.
Earlier studies have already indicated that migraine patients less magnesium in their bodies than others.

Migraine attacks usually have a unilateral headache, throbbing, moderate-severe intensity, often accompanied by nausea and vomiting, photo phobia and / or photo phobia. The attacks usually last less than 3 days and may be of such intensity that they interfere with personal and professional daily activities of those who suffer. In addition, migraine patients have to live with the uncertainty of when is your next attack and what intensity.

Cluster headaches affect one side of the head are the most widely recognized symptom of migraine, but not unique. Migraine can be accompanied by:

1. Aura

• Phase suffering a minority of patients with migraine. Symptoms include changes in vision, hearing, smell, taste and touch that last about an hour. Visual aura is the most common type of aura and may include flashing lights, bright zigzag lines that move the eyes or “heat waves” that traverse the field of view.

The goal of treatment for substance is effective in reducing the frequency and intensity of migraine attacks. It is proposed where the seizures are frequent (from three per month) and/or disabling (with a significant impact on activities by their intensity or duration). The drugs most used are dihydroergotamine, propranolol (beta blocker), methysergide, the Flunarizine, sodium valproate and amitryptilline (Tricyclic antidepressant, effective especially if there is a component associated with depressive illness). Note that these products have been created for indications other than migraine at baseline (anti-epileptic, antidepressant etc)
One can also cite the indoramine (alpha blocker) as background therapy specific.
The molecule chosen must be taken regularly for 3 months, keeping a calendar of self-monitoring, containing the crisis with quote their intensity and their duration, taken medication, potential side effects, especially the efficiency. If effective, treatment is still taken 6 months before being gradually stopped hoping for a remission more or less complete and lasting crisis.
Today some of these treatments are sometimes associated with certain classes of anti-epileptic drugs including anti-migraine is now demonstrated.

The frequency of migraine attacks varies greatly from one individual to another. Some people have a few per year, while others have 3 or 4 times per month. In some cases, seizures may occur several times a week, but rarely a day.
The first seizures appear during childhood or young adulthood. Beyond age 40, headaches are more rare and often disappear after 50 years.
Mechanisms of migraine
It is unclear why some people have headaches, tension headaches or migraines, and others have simply never, even if they are exposed to the same triggers.
Years 1960 to 1990, it was believed that migraines were caused mainly by vascular changes, a tightening of blood vessels surrounding the brain, followed by swelling. However, research carried out subsequently showed that the origin of migraine is much more complex. Indeed, a whole cascade of reactions in the nervous system that cause this intense headache. These chain reactions have effects not only on blood vessels, but also on inflammation, neurotransmitters and other elements.
Without a thorough understanding of the mechanisms of migraine, we know still better and better triggers (see Risk Factors) and ways to combat it.