Fight that migraine

What did Vincent Van Gogh, Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Ulysses S Grant, Lewis Carroll, Mary Todd Lincoln, and Elvis Presley have in common? Migraine. A neurological, and often hereditary disease, migraine is typically characterised by severe, recurring head pain, usually located on one side of the head and one or more of the following associated symptoms: nausea, vomiting and increased sensitivity to light, sound and smell. Other symptoms may include light-headedness, diarrhoea and scalp tenderness. Migraine symptoms vary for each individual sufferer, making diagnosis complicated. Often developing around the time of the first menstrual period, migraine appears to be the result of falling levels or reduced availability of estrogen. Menstrual migraine is often more difficult to treat than other types of head pain. Women who have migraines only with their period can often achieve relief by taking preventive (prophylactic) medication just before their period begins.Of symptoms that should set off alarm bells, elaborates P N Ranjan, senior consultant department of neurology at Apollo, ‘‘Migraine is a very specific syndrome that should be reported if the person has been experiencing pain in half the head.’’The following is a list of common myths associated with migraine:Myth: A migraine is just a bad headache. Fact: Migraine is a disease, the headache is only a symptom. During a migraine, inflammation of the tissue surrounding the brain exacerbates the pain. Therefore, medicine often prescribed to treat a headache, dilates the blood vessels and therefore can make a migraine worse.Myth: Migraine is caused by psychological factors, such as stress and depression. Fact: Migraine is a neurological disease, not a psychological disorder. Migraine is a disease that involves the heightening of one’s senses. The patient is more sensitive to his or her surroundings, including light, sound, smells, taste and touch.Myth: Migraine is not life threatening, just annoying. Fact: Migraine can be life threatening. It can induce a host of serious physical conditions such as strokes, aneurysms, permanent visual loss, severe dental problems, coma and even death. Migraine and epileptic seizure disorders are also interrelated. The most intimate interrelationship between the two being Migraine-triggered epilepsy. Myth: Any doctor will recognise and properly treat migraine. Fact: Migraine is one of the most misdiagnosed, mistreated and least understood diseases. Sixty per cent of women and 70 per cent of men with Migraine have never been diagnosed with this disease.D Karthikeyan, consultant, Homeopathic medicine claims, ‘‘A correct headache diagnosis should be made first and only then should one start therapy. During the headache evaluation, it is very important for the patient to be accurately descriptive of his headache history, symptoms and characteristics.’’ Treatment and management of migraine headaches should involve medication as well as a combination of other therapies including stress management, regular exercise, relaxation therapy and lifestyle changes.