http://www.headachecare.net/ en 2012-04-25T05:24:00+00:00 http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/282/ http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/282/#When:05:24:00Z The main ingredient in Botox may be modestly helpful for people with chronic migraines, a new report suggests - but it doesn’t seem to offer much relief for those who have less-frequent headaches. Patients who started out having headaches almost every day reported two fewer headaches per month when they were given injections of botulinum toxin A. But they also had more side effects, including weak muscles and stiff necks. The medication is marketed under multiple brands, but Allergan’s Botox is the best known. Botox is used to treat a range of conditions in addition to migraines, including wrinkles and excessive sweating. Headache News 2012-04-25T05:24:00+00:00 http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/281/ http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/281/#When:04:06:00Z Seven different drugs are proven to be effective for preventing episodic migraine attacks and another half-dozen are probably helpful, according to new guidelines released here by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). An evidence review by the AAN and the American Headache Society also identified several over-the-counter (OTC) products, including herbal supplements, with either proven or probable efficacy. The announcement accompanied publication of two practice guidelines on prevention of episodic migraine - one for prescription products and another for nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs and “complementary” therapies - in the April 24 issue of Neurology. Prescription drugs listed as having proven effectiveness against migraine, defined as a significant benefit in at least two high-quality randomized trials, included one triptan agent, three beta-blockers, and three anti-epileptic drugs. Headache News 2012-04-25T04:06:00+00:00 http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/280/ http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/280/#When:07:26:01Z Men who have been diagnosed with erectile dysfunction are 63 percent more likely to also have had a diagnosis of migraine headaches than men without the sexual disorder, according to a new study from Taiwan. Dr. Tobias Köhler of Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, who specializes in male sexual function and fertility, told Reuters Health this is the first he’s heard of any such relationship between migraines and impotence. “It’s an interesting first recognition of the correlation, but by no means does it mean they’re causally linked,” said Köhler, who was not involved in the new research. It’s not clear what might explain the link between erectile dysfunction (ED) and headache, although migraines have been linked to sexual dysfunction in women, the study authors note in the journal Cephalalgia. Headache News 2012-04-02T07:26:01+00:00 http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/279/ http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/279/#When:08:32:00Z People with severe headaches, whether migraines or not, may be more likely to attempt suicide, a new study suggests. The findings don’t prove that headaches caused the suicide attempts, but a number of studies over the years have found that people with migraines tend to have a higher suicide rate than those without the problem. But it has not been clear whether it’s related specifically to the “biology of migraines,” said Naomi Breslau of Michigan State University in East Lansing, who led the new study. “We haven’t known if it was the migraines or the pain more generally,” Breslau told Reuters Health. Headache News 2012-03-23T08:32:00+00:00 http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/278/ http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/278/#When:00:01:01Z A study of mothers and their young babies by neurologists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has shown that mothers who suffer migraine headaches are more than twice as likely to have babies with colic than mothers without a history of migraines. The work raises the question of whether colic may be an early symptom of migraine and therefore whether reducing stimulation may help just as reducing light and noise can alleviate migraine pain. That is significant because excessive crying is one of the most common triggers for shaken baby syndrome, which can cause death, brain damage and severe disability. “If we can understand what is making the babies cry, we may be able to protect them from this very dangerous outcome,” said Amy Gelfand, MD, a child neurologist with the Headache Center at UCSF who will present the findings at the American Academy of Neurology’s 64th Annual Meeting, which takes place in New Orleans in April. Headache News 2012-02-21T00:01:01+00:00 http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/277/ http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/277/#When:20:23:00Z Experts from the International Headache Society (IHS) have developed new recommendations for conduct of acute and preventive migraine clinical trials. The third edition of Migraine Clinical Trials Guidelines is now available in the IHS journal Cephalalgia, which is published by SAGE. The new guidelines represent an expert consensus summary, and recommend a contemporary, standardized, and evidence-based approach to investigators conducting and reporting randomised, controlled migraine clinical trials. Migraine clinical research has increased exponentially since the last set of guidelines was published. Clinical researchers and pharmaceutical companies have accumulated further experience, and the trend is towards large, multi-national and multi-centre studies. Given these developments, it was timely to bring the guidelines up to date. The IHS stresses that it endorses adherence to the guidelines unless there is scientific justification to deviate from them. They represent research practice parameters and are the highest level in the hierarchy of evidence-based recommendations in the absence of published standards of research practice.  Headache News 2012-01-24T20:23:00+00:00 http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/276/ http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/276/#When:08:21:01Z Kids who have a concussion or other traumatic brain injury are more likely to develop headaches for up to a year afterward than children who have had a bodily injury, according to a new study. While not entirely surprising, the results point to a difficult long-term problem for kids and their parents because adequate treatments are lacking, researchers say. “It’s an issue because they may have problems with sleep, and the headaches can make it harder to concentrate,” said lead author Dr. Heidi Blume at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Headache News 2011-12-08T08:21:01+00:00 http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/275/ http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/275/#When:17:53:00Z People who get painful migraine headaches may be at a higher risk for developing clinical depression, suggests a new study from Canada. The research, published in the journal Headache, also hints that the relationship may go both ways, and people with clinical depression could have a higher risk of developing migraines, but that finding could have been due to chance, the researchers say. Nonetheless, lead author Geeta Modgill, who was at the University of Calgary while conducting the work, told Reuters Health that migraine and depression sufferers should know the signs of both ailments since each might be at a higher risk for the other condition. Headache News 2011-11-25T17:53:00+00:00 http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/274/ http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/274/#When:21:43:00Z Hallucinated scents such as a burning or rotten smell, or even the scent of foie gras, can be a part of the “aura” that some people perceive before a migraine attack, although it is rare, according to a U.S. study. About 30 percent of people with recurrent migraines have sensory disturbances shortly before their headache hits, known as aura, but these are usually visual, such as flashes of light or blind spots. Tingling sensations or numbness, or difficulty speaking or understanding language, may also appear. But the study, conducted by Matthew Robbins and colleagues at the Montefiore Headache Center in New York, found that a small number of people described smelling scents in conjunction with their headaches. Headache News 2011-10-17T21:43:00+00:00 http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/273/ http://www.headachecare.net/migraine/more/273/#When:08:52:00Z Cluster headache has a substantial detrimental effect on quality of life. New invasive procedures, such as hypothalamic deep brain stimulation and bilateral occipital nerve stimulation, may help patients with chronic refractory headache. This is one of the conclusions reached by Charly Gaul and co-authors from the Department of Neurology at the University Medical Center Essen in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International. Cluster headache is the most common trigemino-autonomic headache, affecting some 120,000 people in Germany. Typically, patients suffer unilateral short attacks, which are accompanied by restlessness. The causes of cluster headache are not clear. Men are affected more often than women, with a ratio of 3.5:1. Headache News 2011-09-14T08:52:00+00:00