A PRIMER ON MIGRAINES.Byline: Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph Migraine headaches are a serious disorder affecting more than 23 million Americans, including 18 million women. No ordinary headache, migraines produce such severe pain that 35 percent of sufferers polled in a recent Gallup survey said they often wish they were dead. Risk factors: Heredity plays a role in 70 percent of cases. If one parent has migraines, there's a 70 percent chance the child will have it. If both parents have it, the risk rises to 75 percent. Causes: Until recently, researchers believed migraines resulted from a sudden constriction of blood vessels in the brain followed by a sudden dilation dilation /di·la·tion/ (di-la´shun) 1. the act of dilating or stretching. 2. dilatation. di·la·tion n. 1. . Newer theories suggest migraines are caused by a raw central nervous system that's especially sensitive to stress as well as dietary and environmental triggers. Triggers: Among the most notorious dietary triggers are chocolate, caffeine, wine, beer, aged cheeses, yeast, peanuts, citrus fruits, aspartame aspartame: see sweetener, artificial. aspartame Synthetic organic compound (a dipeptide) of phenylalanine and aspartic acid. It is 150–200 times as sweet as cane sugar and is used as a nonnutritive tabletop sweetener and in low-calorie and monosodium glutamate. Other triggers include cosmetics, chemicals, bright lights, loud noises, stress, exercise, sex, hormonal fluctuations, changes in barometric pressure and changes in altitude. Symptoms: Severe head pain (often on just one side of the head), dizziness, fatigue and/or nausea lasting four hours to three days. In 20 percent of cases, the attack is preceded by a 15- to 30-minute aura marked by such visual disturbances as flashing lights and zigzag patterns. Treatments to prevent migraine: Beta blockers, calcium channel blockers Calcium Channel Blockers Definition Calcium channel blockers are medicines that slow the movement of calcium into the cells of the heart and blood vessels. , anti-depressants. A recent study shows that an aspirin a day can reduce migraine frequency by 50 percent. Treatments for migraine attack: Analgesics (aspirin, acetominophen, ibuprofen), ergotamine ergotamine /er·got·amine/ (er-got´ah-min) an alkaloid of ergot; the tartrate salt is used for relief of migraine and cluster headaches. er·got·a·mine n. compounds (Cafergot, Midrin), sumatriptan sumatriptan /su·ma·trip·tan/ (soo?mah-trip´tan) a selective serotonin receptor agonist used as the succinate salt in the acute treatment of migraine and cluster headaches. su·ma·trip·tan n. (Imitrex), lidocaine lidocaine /li·do·caine/ (li´do-kan) an anesthetic with sedative, analgesic, and cardiac depressant properties, applied topically in the form of the base or hydrochloride salt as a local anesthetic; also used in the latter form as a , feverfew feverfew: see chrysanthemum. . For more information on migraine headaches, contact: American Council for Headache Education, Woodbury, N.J.; (800) 255-2243. National Headache Foundation, Chicago, Ill.; (800) 843-2256. Sources: ``Migraine: Everything You Need to Know'' by Valerie South, medical journals, news services. |
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