Chronic migraineurs more likely to be sick

A new research has shown that chronic migraine sufferers tend to be in poorer general health, less well off, and more depressed than those with episodic migraine.

The results are based on the study of almost 12,000 adults with episodic - a severe headache on up to 14 days of the month - or chronic migraine - headache on 15 or more days of the month.

All participants were already part of the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention (AMPP) study, a long term US population based study of 24,000 headache sufferers, which has included regular surveys since 2004. The researchers analysed data collected in the 2005 survey on socioeconomic circumstances and other health problems.

They found that those with chronic migraine had significantly lower levels of household income, were less likely to be working full time, and were almost twice as likely to have a job related disability, than their peers with episodic migraine.

They were twice as likely to be depressed, anxious, and experiencing chronic pain. And they were significantly more likely to have other serious health problems.

These included asthma, bronchitis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and obesity. They were also around 40 percent more likely to have heart disease and angina and 70 percent more likely to have had a stroke.

The research point out that chronic migraine “can be an especially disabling and burdensome condition.” The study has been published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

A magnetic device that head off migraine pain in two hrs

In a ray of hope for millions of migraine patients for whom available drugs are of no help, American scientists have claimed to have developed a magnetic 'pain-zapper' that can relieve a sufferer of headache within two hours.

The device, of the size and weight of a hair-dryer, is based on a technique called single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (sTMS) in which electrical currents produced by powerful magnets are used to stimulate brain cells.

At the first sign of a migraine, the device is held against the back of the head and switched on. It gives out two fleeting bursts of electricity which short-circuit the 'electrical storm' in the brain that causes the splitting pain, flashing lights and blurred vision associated with migraine.

The device, developed by Californian firm Neuralieve, has been tested on around 160 migraine patients -- both male and female, the Daily Mail reported.

As part of the study, half of the patients were given the gadget and half a dummy device that looked almost identical, to take home. They were told to treat up to three attacks at the first sign of symptoms and to record how they got on.

Almost 40 per cent of those who used the device were free of pain two hours later compared with 22 per cent in the other group.

Those who used the gadget were also more likely to be pain-free 24 and 48 hours later, according to a report in the journal Lancet Neurology.

According to the researchers, the electrical pulses produced by the gadget calm the over-excited brain cells responsible for migraines.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Now--a-magnetic-device-that-head-off-migraine-pain-in-two-hrs/586808