What Characterizes A Migraine And What Are Its Symptoms?
One of the commonest migraine symptoms is an acute throbbing pain that is normally located on one side of the head close to the area of the temple. Migraine headaches are also often accompanied by other symptoms which include sensitivity to light and noise, queasiness and occasionally vomiting.
Migraines are quite common and affect about 10% of the population of America, or more than 28 million Americans. They are also much more often experienced by women rather than men (about three times as many women suffer from migraine) and can also be found occasionally in children.
Despite the fact that migraines are so common and often very painful with attacks lasting anything from a few hours to several days, only about 50% of all sufferers consult their doctor and the remainder elect to suffer in silence.
It had long been thought migraine headaches were the result of a of dilation of the blood vessels in the head but, although there is no general agreement, medical opinion seems to be changing in favor of a genetic cause for this problem. It is now believed that migraine headaches results from the interaction of brain chemicals such as serotonin with the nerve cells. At this point in time however the truth of the matter is that we really do not know what cause migraines.
In fact there are two types of migraine, the first of which is called 'classical migraine', which is characterized by an accompanying 'aura'. Here 'aura' refers to visual light effects that are experienced just before the arrival of a headache including such things as bright light spots and flashing lights. In some people a complete loss of vision can be experienced for some minutes before the onset of the headache.
The second type of migraine headache is a migraine without the prior symptoms of an 'aura'.
In exactly the same way that we do not know what causes a migraine, so too we have little idea about just what triggers an attack, although there are a number of factors which do appear likely to trigger an attack. For instance, getting too much sleep seems to be one factor and so does missing meals or eating certain types of food such as cheese.
Hormonal factors are also thought to influence the onset and severity of attacks and one piece of evidence for this is the higher incidence of migraines among women. In part this is thought to be because of the effect of estrogen on the blood vessels and it has been noted in some studies that there is a connection between contraceptive pills (which contains estrogen) and migraines.
Just to confuse matters however studies have also shown that simple everyday activities like climbing a flight of stairs can trigger an attack, as can exposure to heat or cold, loud noises, flashing lights and even stress.
Fortunately, there are a number of migraine treatments available, although no one treatment has proved to be really effective in all cases. One thing which we do know though is that over-the-counter medicines are rarely effective and, if you are unlucky enough to suffer from migraines, you would be best advised to ask your doctor for help in finding an answer which works for you.
One of the commonest migraine symptoms is an acute throbbing pain that is normally located on one side of the head close to the area of the temple. Migraine headaches are also often accompanied by other symptoms which include sensitivity to light and noise, queasiness and occasionally vomiting.
Migraines are quite common and affect about 10% of the population of America, or more than 28 million Americans. They are also much more often experienced by women rather than men (about three times as many women suffer from migraine) and can also be found occasionally in children.
Despite the fact that migraines are so common and often very painful with attacks lasting anything from a few hours to several days, only about 50% of all sufferers consult their doctor and the remainder elect to suffer in silence.
It had long been thought migraine headaches were the result of a of dilation of the blood vessels in the head but, although there is no general agreement, medical opinion seems to be changing in favor of a genetic cause for this problem. It is now believed that migraine headaches results from the interaction of brain chemicals such as serotonin with the nerve cells. At this point in time however the truth of the matter is that we really do not know what cause migraines.
In fact there are two types of migraine, the first of which is called 'classical migraine', which is characterized by an accompanying 'aura'. Here 'aura' refers to visual light effects that are experienced just before the arrival of a headache including such things as bright light spots and flashing lights. In some people a complete loss of vision can be experienced for some minutes before the onset of the headache.
The second type of migraine headache is a migraine without the prior symptoms of an 'aura'.
In exactly the same way that we do not know what causes a migraine, so too we have little idea about just what triggers an attack, although there are a number of factors which do appear likely to trigger an attack. For instance, getting too much sleep seems to be one factor and so does missing meals or eating certain types of food such as cheese.
Hormonal factors are also thought to influence the onset and severity of attacks and one piece of evidence for this is the higher incidence of migraines among women. In part this is thought to be because of the effect of estrogen on the blood vessels and it has been noted in some studies that there is a connection between contraceptive pills (which contains estrogen) and migraines.
Just to confuse matters however studies have also shown that simple everyday activities like climbing a flight of stairs can trigger an attack, as can exposure to heat or cold, loud noises, flashing lights and even stress.
Fortunately, there are a number of migraine treatments available, although no one treatment has proved to be really effective in all cases. One thing which we do know though is that over-the-counter medicines are rarely effective and, if you are unlucky enough to suffer from migraines, you would be best advised to ask your doctor for help in finding an answer which works for you.
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