MIGRAINE (HALF AND SKULL)

by: MisS VictoriA DaviD

 
‘My head is hurting like a block of ice fell on it’! Is this the feeling you experience when your migraine triggers like a bullet in the head?

Migraine is a neurological syndrome that often has a number of associated symptoms such as nausea, increased sensitivity to light and visual problems like zigzag lines. Physiologically, the migraine headache is more common to women than to men because of the hormonal influences.

The word migraine has its roots in the Greek hemikrania meaning - half and skull. It has gone through many changes over time, the Latin hemicrania and the French migraigne preceded the word in English which we now know as migraine.

Migraine occurs mostly at the age of 40, when life begins! (And so does the suffering!) It is divided and described by the doctors into two types:

• Classical migraine is when the headache includes symptoms of aura.

• Common migraine is when a person does not experience aura symptoms.

(Aura is a symptom such as flashes of light or blind spots, specifically difficulty in focusing and seeing things as though through a broken mirror. This stage normally lasts around 15 minutes to an hour).

Scientifically, the description of the two types of migraine was based on the scientific findings where they used people’s data- migraine patients. The data are of such a great help for the doctors as they had have extrapolated drug (medicine) to relieve the pain that causes harshness to ones’ life.

Ergotamine is one of the prescribed medicines for migraines and is also known as Cafergot. The effect of it once taken is it eases the pain associated with migraine by narrowing the blood vessels. A research has shown that migraine can be caused by the swelling of blood vessels around the brain.

In the 1990's, Triptans is one of the drugs introduced and are a family of tryptamine- based drugs used as abortive medication in the treatment of migraines and cluster headaches.

Like triptans, Zomig itself belongs to the tryptamine-based drugs as well. It associated with a potentially life-threatening condition called serotonin syndrome, mainly when taken together with certain antidepressants. Serotonin syndrome most often occurs when two drugs that affect the body's level of serotonin are taken together at the same time. The drugs cause too much serotonin to be released or to remain in the brain area. (Serotonin acts both as a chemical messenger that transmits nerve signals between nerve cells and that causes blood vessels to narrow).

Like other drugs that may or may not provide a good benefit for the health there is an alternative than to take strong drugs. A combination of (3) Aspirin + (2) Paracetamol + strong coffee can relieve the pain that causes migraines. A low dose is highly recommended and should be given a full attention to prevent developing blood clots.

Medicine is one of the answers in the field of science and to the aching world of man. A proper way to maintain a good health should start within us, by simply adding a daily exercise regime in our busy lifestyle and a healthy eating diet. It is not easy to be a drug- dependent as it might affect your private life in the long run.

*Photo courtesy of treatmentmigraine.wordpress.com