 |
Migraine - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment of Migraine
Author: Corwin Brown   | Posted: 08-04-2008 | Comments: 0 | Views: 11 | Rating: (52)  (?) 
Related Videos
Is it a Migraine
That painful headache that won?t go away?is it a migraine? Keep watching...
A migraine can be disabling — with symptoms so severe, all you can think about is finding a dark, quiet place to lie down. Up to 17 percent of women and 6 percent of men have experienced a migraine.
More than 29.5 million Americans suffer from migraine, with women being affected three times more often than men. This vascular headache is most commonly experienced between the ages of 15 and 55, and 70% to 80% of sufferers have a family history of migraine. Less than half of all migraine sufferers have received a diagnosis of migraine from their healthcare provider. Migraine is often misdiagnosed as sinus headache or tension-type headache.
Causes of Migraine
Foods. Certain foods appear to trigger headaches in some people. Common offenders include alcohol, especially beer and red wine; aged cheeses; chocolate; fermented, pickled or marinated foods; aspartame; overuse of caffeine; monosodium glutamate — a key ingredient in some Asian foods; certain seasonings; and many canned and processed foods. Skipping meals or fasting also can trigger migraines.
Sensory stimuli. Bright lights and sun glare can produce head pain. So can unusual smells — including pleasant scents, such as perfume and flowers, and unpleasant odors, such as paint thinner and secondhand smoke.
A migraine begins when, for some reason, blood vessels in the brain narrow (constrict) temporarily. When that happens, the amount of blood and oxygen flowing to the brain drops. So the brain sends a message: "Hey guys, we need some more blood and oxygen here!"
Until recently, the general theory on the migraine process rested solely on the idea that abnormalities of blood vessel (vascular) systems in the head were responsible for migraines.
Symptoms of Migraine
Intense throbbing or dull aching pain on one side of your head or both sides.
Migraines typically begin in childhood, adolescence or early adulthood and may become less frequent and less intense as you grow older. In addition to physical suffering, severe headaches often mean missed school days and trips to the emergency department, as well as lost work time for anxious parents.
Most experts now agree that the term migraine should be used to refer to a chronic, recurrent neurological condition resulting in periodic attacks of head pain rather than the headache.
Changes in how a person sees, including blurred vision or blind spots, zig-zags of light or light flashes
Treatment of Migraine
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved three over-the-counter products to treat migraine. Excedrin® Migraine (a combination of aspirin, acetaminophen and caffeine) is indicated for migraine and its associated symptoms. Advil® Migraine and Motrin® Migraine Pain, both ibuprofen medications, are approved to treat migraine headache and its pain.
Ergots. Ergotamine (Ergomar) has been in use for more than 60 years and was a common prescription for migraine before triptans were introduced. Ergotamine is much less expensive, but also less effective, than triptans. Dihydroergotamine is an ergot derivative that is more effective and has fewer side effects than ergotamine.
Drug names and migraine headache treatments availability vary widely from the USA and UK. Migraine headache treatments fall into two broad categories: first with migraine treatments are analgesics and analgesic combinations and, secondly, migraine-specific therapies, such as the triptans, ergotamine and dihydroergotamine. Many of these are available only on prescription but there is a variety of therapeutic options available over the counter (OTC) and pharmacists can often advise patients about these.
Beta blockers (e.g., propranolol [Inderal®], atenolol [Tenormin®]) are the preferred medications. These drugs produce an effect on heart rate. They should not be taken by patients with asthma and should be used with caution in patients with diabetes.
Rate this Article:
Current: 0 / 5 stars - 0 vote(s).
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/migraine-causes-symptoms-and-treatment-of-migraine-381330.html
|
Submitting articles has become one of the most popular means of generating quality backlinks and targeted traffic to your website. Join us today - It's Free! |
|
Got a Question? Ask.
Ask the community a question about this article:
Q&A Powered by: 
Latest Diseases and Conditions Articles
What Are The Psychosis Symptoms?
By: Ronen David | 12/10/2008
Psychosis symptoms involve hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, mania and depression along with others.
Corn Allergy
By: nlwest21 | 11/10/2008
Corn allergy is not a very common allergy - but it can be a dangerous one. Many who suffer from this will have severe reactions.
Risk for Heart Disease
By: jeniferhobson | 11/10/2008
Heart disease kills approximate 700,000 Americans each year. But a lot of these deaths could be prevented if people take manage of their threat issues for this disease.
A number of the threat issues for heart disease can be controlled and some can not. That is why it is significant to know your risk issues and change your lifestyle to decrease them.
Care Plan for Diabetes
By: jeniferhobson | 11/10/2008
Men with diabetes face a number of health concerns, including raised threat of heart attacks and strokes and impotence.
On top of the age of 50, the likelihood of having difficulty with a creation occurs in about 50-60% of men with diabetes. In men over 70, 90% have erectile dysfunction troubles.
Leucoderma - Symptoms, Causes, Treatment and Remedies
By: jeniferhobson | 11/10/2008
Leucoderma also called vitiligo is a painful skin situation. In word language means white skin. There is a continuously loss of the pigment melanin from the skin layers which outcomes in white patches. These patches seem to be ugly in a body, particularly in persons with a dark skin.
Scoliosis Treatment in India: World Class Treatment at Third World Prices
By: julia | 11/10/2008
This article is about getting low cost scoliosis treatment in India
What Is The Right Anxiety Treatment?
By: Ronen David | 11/10/2008
You have been diagnosed with anxiety and you finally have a reason for the things that you have been feeling. You have a reason for the tremors and chest pains even for the hyperventilating that you experience in cases of extreme fear
Fertility Self Help How Self Hypnosis Can Really Help Fertility
By: J Seymour | 10/10/2008
Self hypnosis is a useful tool to fight infertility problems in addition to medical treatments by helping you to relax and reduce stress.
More from Corwin Brown
Glaucoma - Symptoms of Glaucoma
By: Corwin Brown | 03/06/2008 | Diseases and Conditions
There are two major types of glaucoma: open-angle glaucoma and acute closed-angle glaucoma. Most glaucoma patients have open-angle glaucoma. There are usually no signs or symptoms in the early stages of open-angle glaucoma. The first sign is usually loss of vision, which is why the disease is sometimes referred to as the "sneak thief of sight." Vision loss caused by glaucoma cannot be restored.
Coxsackie Virus – Information on Coxsackie Virus
By: Corwin Brown | 03/06/2008 | Diseases and Conditions
Coxsackie virus (also written as coxsackievirus) is a member of the Picornaviridae family of viruses in the genus termed Enterovirus. Coxsackie viruses are subtype members of Enterovirus that have a single strand of ribonucleic acid (RNA) for its genetic material. The Enteroviruses are also referred to as picornaviruses (pico means "small," so, "small RNA viruses"). Coxsackie virus was first isolated from human feces in the town of Coxsackie, New York, in 1948 by G. Dalldorf.
Coxsackie Virus – Symptoms, Causes and Treatment
By: Corwin Brown | 03/06/2008 | Diseases and Conditions
Infection usually is spread by fecal-oral contamination, although occasionally the virus is spread by droplets expelled by infected individuals. Items like utensils, diaper-changing tables, and toys that come in contact with body fluids that contain the virus may also transmit them to other individuals.
What is Fibrocystic Breast Disease?
By: Corwin Brown | 02/06/2008 | Diseases and Conditions
Fibrocystic breast disease is common and usually benign condition. Symptoms include swollen, tender breasts, and/or one or more lumps. Frequently, symptoms worsen just before a woman's menstrual cycle, subsiding near the end. For the majority of women these symptoms are a temporary discomfort; however some women experience severe pain.
Symptoms of Infertility
By: Corwin Brown | 02/06/2008 | Diseases and Conditions
The first obvious symptom of infertility is the inability to conceive. Unfortunately, most women or men won't discover their infertility until they have tried unsuccessfully to conceive for a period of time. Usually, it takes many tests and exams to come to the conclusion of an infertility diagnosis, but there are a few symptoms to be on the lookout for. A range of emotional and social problems and tensions between the couple regarding childlessness.
Fibrocystic Breast – Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
By: Corwin Brown | 02/06/2008 | Diseases and Conditions
Fibrocystic breast condition is a common, non-cancerous condition that affects more than 50% of women at some point in their lives. The most common signs of fibrocystic breasts include lumpiness, tenderness, cysts (packets of fluid), areas of thickening, fibrosis (scar-like connective tissue), and breast pain.
Fever Blister – Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
By: Corwin Brown | 02/06/2008 | Diseases and Conditions
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) can cause infections that affect the mouth, the face, the genitals, the skin, the buttocks, and the anal area. This article will concentrate on non-genital herpes. Many people acquire the virus and have no symptoms. For others, painful blisters appear near the area where the virus entered the body.
Fever Blister - Home Remedies for Fever Blister
By: Corwin Brown | 02/06/2008 | Diseases and Conditions
Fever blisters are caused more often by the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) than herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). As a matter of fact, more than 85 percent of the world's population has been infected with HSV-1. These infections follow the usual course of herpes simplex virus infections in that the first outbreak is usually more painful and lasts longer than recurrent infections.
|
|
Health 
