Headache & Migraine News Blog

A study was recently done using information from the Integrated Healthcare Information Services National Managed Care Benchmark Database (phew!  We'll just call it IHCIS) to find out how migraine treatment was going.  This is a study from the USA based on actual health insurance claims from over 6 million patients.

It's believed that about 10-15% of the population in the USA suffers from migraine.  However, only about 3% of the people in the survey were actually diagnosed with migraine.  So either the first number is waaay off, or the other 10% get very minor attacks and don't feel they need a doctor, or else many many many people just aren't getting the treatment they need.

The other news (not exactly a surprise, mind you) is that only about half the patients with migraine got typical headache medication.  In fact, only about 20% got the targeted migraine drugs known as triptans.  In contrast, well over half of those given headache medication were given narcotics and opioid analgesics, such as medications with codeine and morphine.

Now don't get me wrong - narcotics have been a huge help to many, many chronic pain patients.  That includes migraineurs.  However, certain things about these numbers should cause concern:

First, now that the more migraine-specific triptan drugs have been available for well over a decade, why aren't doctors prescribing them more often?

Narcotics have helped many migraineurs, but they are not the first line of attack for someone suffering from regular attacks.  Because of the dangers of rebound headache and dependence in general, they're more towards the last-resort end of the drug scale.  And yet, in spite of all the better options available, they're still being prescribed over half the time (in the headache drug category) for migraine.

Again, it still looks like many people aren't even getting a proper diagnosis.  Migraine should not be ignored - there is help available.

True, many people are not helped by triptans (though if they've only tried one, they should try other types).  Narcotics may be the only thing that works.  I emphasize this because some seem to think that most people with chronic pain are just out for the drug high.  That's not the case - most people I've heard from are simply looking for solutions.  And these numbers suggest that people are not being made aware of the solutions that are out there.

If triptans, other migraine drugs or the many good prevantative options don't work for you, you may need to take more drastic measures.  But most people need to try the best options before they get that far down the road.

Ok, I'm done my rant.  For more on the study, read the press release New Analysis Shows High Narcotic Use Among Headache Sufferers.

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Teenagers with migraine - a study
April 15, 2006 3:00 pm

For many people, it's the time when migraine symptoms start.  But those of us who have dealt with migraine for years and years know that finding the right treatment can be a long and difficult path.  So what can we do to help teenagers with migraine?

Recently in the USA a study of 18,714 people from 12-19 was completed.  Over the course of a year, 5% of boys and 7.7% of girls reported frequent migraine attacks.  Frequent!  Most of these used over-the-counter drugs to deal with the attacks.

Now, here's the scary part.  31% had attacks frequent and bad enough that they should really be looking into preventative treatment.  That means that the attacks were seriously impacting their lives.  And yet, less than 20% of those had tried preventative meds, and only a little more than half of those were still using them.

Ok, so what does this mean?  Dr Paul Winner, director of the Palm Beach Headache Clinic and professor of Neurology at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale says it best:  "That represents a lot of pain, suffering, and loss of school and family activities."

The other disturbing factor is that the symptoms may be rare at first, and then a year or two later it may be happening once a twice a week or more.  There are a number of factors here, of course.  Hormonal changes almost certainly contribute to an increase in symptoms.  But it also seems likely that these people aren't getting the treatment they need, and are ending up worse off.

If you're a teenager with migraine symptoms and/or severe headache, there are two things you need to know - first, you're not alone.  Second, this is not "normal" - in other words, not something you should just put up with.  Fight back, and make sure your doctor takes you seriously.  There is help available.

Read more about the teenagers and migraine study.

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Herbal and botanical treatments
April 17, 2006 11:47 am

Chamomile flowers
There are lots of things you can do with herbals (usually leaves) and botanicals (various parts of the plant).  I mean, besides drinking or eating them.  I've written about some of these before, but I found it interesting when I was reading Migraine and other Headaches that Drs Young and Silberstein list some different uses for different herbs.  Here are the ones they list as the most commonly used therapies in this class:

Inhalation using melissa, peppermint and chamomile.

Massage with lavender, peppermint, anise, basil and eucalyptus.

Warm baths with eucalyptus, wintergreen, and peppermint.

Compresses of peppermint, ginger and marjoram, and vinegar.

They also mention herbal footbaths.  According to this section of the book, these things are great not only for treating pain, but for relaxing and balancing the body.  I've found treatments like these helpful, although some of these I wasn't familiar with - I'll have to check some more out!

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