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Medicine takes on the dreaded migraine
New drugs and an herb may help
July 17, 1997
Web posted at: 7:08 p.m. EDT (2308 GMT)From Correspondent Linda Ciampa
ATLANTA (CNN) -- The American Medical Association say headache is one of the most common sources of pain for Americans.
And one of the most painful is the migraine, an intense, periodically recurring headache that usually attacks one side of the head. It is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting and visual disorders.
CNN's Linda Ciampa reports
2 min., 3 sec. VXtreme streaming video
No one knows what causes a migraine, but it is thought to be the result of a chemical imbalance in the brain. Migraines are often hereditary and can be triggered by anything from stress to birth control pills to food.
Michele Dickey, an Atlanta woman who suffers from migraines, has found relief from a chiropractor who says the rise in the number of Americans suffering from the debilitating headaches may come, at least in part, from bad posture and long, demanding hours at work.
"Especially with the advent of computers," says Dr. Hank Glass, "being in one position for a long period of time can cause an imbalance in certain muscle groups."
Glass says that chiropractors can't help everyone because migraines are not a "one-size-fits-all" condition.
New drugs and an herb may help
Dr. David Hewitt of Emory University says changes in diet may help.
He suggests "getting rid of red wine, getting rid of certain cheeses, chocolate... In my experience one of the best things you can do is assess your sleep, because one of the things that's very true for migraine sufferers is, whatever medication you give people, they invariably get better with a good night's sleep."
There are also those who believe that an herb called feverfew helps. According to the Herbal Information Center, which runs a web site with herb guidance, feverfew has a long history of use in traditional and folk medicine as a treatment for disorders such as fever, headaches, nausea and depression.
There are also a variety of prescription drugs, some of which are taken to prevent migraines while others are meant to stop them once they begin.
One of the newest and most popular migraine drugs, sumatriptan, mimics the brain chemical serotonin and reportedly brings relief within two hours to 90 percent of those who use it.
Drug companies are hoping to capitalize on sumatriptan's success by developing several other so-called "triptan" drugs.
Triptan drugs treat all symptoms
"What's interesting about triptan medications," says Hewitt, "is that they can be given at any time during the headache and they can treat various components of a migraine -- not only the pain, but vomiting, nausea and the visual changes."
If they prove to be as successful as they seem, that will be welcome news to the 23 million Americans who suffer from migraines.
Related stories:
- FDA panel suggests over-the-counter migraine medication - July 15, 1997
- Promising new migraine treatment may ease suffering - July 24, 1996
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