Migraine an undertreated illness

Migraine is one among the many causes of headache experienced by patients attending neurology clinic. It is the second commonest cause of primary headache after tension type headache (TTH). Migraine is grossly unrecognised and undertreated illness even though it afflicts nearly 20 per cent of females and eight per cent of males, said Dr Shyam Babu Chandran, Specialist Neurologist, Zulekha Hospital, Dubai. There are many types of migraine of which the common two types are migraine without aura and with aura. The aura can be visual like flashes of light, sensory like tingling sensation or motor like weakness of body parts. The headache presents with gradually increasing pain, which is mainly one sided. The pain can last for hours and might be associated with nausea and/or vomiting. There may be other symptoms like excessive sensitivity to light, sound and smell. There are various other types of migraine manifesting in different patterns in children and older people. Sometimes the headache can be so disabling as to affect one’s productivity and quality of life which can lead to secondary depression and loss of employment. The diagnosis of migraine is mainly clinical after ruling out secondary causes. The treatment of episodic migraine (less than 15 days in a month) is not uniform for all patients. It varies according to the severity and associated co-morbid diseases. Chronic migraine is a complex disorder which affects approximately two per cent of the population. Due to the poor quality of life and disability there was always a search for drug in chronic migraine. The phase 111 Research Evaluating Migraine Prophylaxis Therapy (PREEMPT) showed significant reduction in mean frequency of headache. This drug is already approved to treat various neurological conditions like hemi facial spasm (twitching of the one side of face), blepharospasm (involuntary forceful eye closure), cervical dystonia (abnormal head deviation) and spasticity (stiffness of the hand or legs due to brain insult). From KhaleejTimes