Drug for migraines helps some patients.An experimental drug that slows blood flow in the brain knocks out migraine headaches in some people, researchers report in the March 11 New England Journal of Medicine The New England Journal of Medicine (New Engl J Med or NEJM) is an English-language peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is one of the most popular and widely-read peer-reviewed general medical journals in the world. . The drug, known only as BIBN 4096 BS so far, competes in the body with the natural compound CGRP, or calcitonin gene-related peptide Calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) is derived, with calcitonin, from the CT/CGRP gene located on chromosome 11. CGRP is a 37 amino acid peptide and is the most potent endogenous vasodilator currently known. , says study coauthor Jes Olesen of the University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (Danish: Københavns Universitet) is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. and Glostrup Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark. Previous studies have suggested that CGRP exacerbates migraine headaches by dilating blood vessels supplying the brain. In fact, giving extra CGRP to a person can initiate a migraine attack. BIBN 4096 BS intervenes by displacing CGRP where it attaches to blood-vessel and nerve cells. Olesen and his coworkers gave a 10-minute infusion of the drug to 85 people in the throes throe n. 1. A severe pang or spasm of pain, as in childbirth. See Synonyms at pain. 2. throes A condition of agonizing struggle or trouble: a country in the throes of economic collapse. of migraines. Another 41 migraine sufferers received inert infusions. The drug wiped out headaches in 10 people during the first 2 hours and 34 patients during the first 4 hours. Only 1 person getting a placebo reported no headache at the 2-hour mark, and 4 noticed their headaches had disappeared by 4 hours. Unlike migraine drugs that constrict con·strict v. To make smaller or narrower, especially by binding or squeezing. blood vessels, BIBN 4096 BS doesn't seem to affect blood vessels in the heart or elsewhere outside the brain, says Paul L. Durham of Southwest Missouri State University Missouri State University is a state university located in Springfield, Missouri. It is the state's second largest university in student enrollment, second only to the University of Missouri. From 1972 to 2005, Missouri State was known as Southwest Missouri State University. in Springfield, writing in the same journal. Therefore, it "may provide an alternative for treatment of migraine" without unwanted effects, he concludes.--N.S. |
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