TV and newspapers on 8 June 2011 brought a press release from Ritzau which said that the Danish migraineurs drop their migraine medicine, although the alternative is that they have untreated migraines, which are painful and often causes them to call in sick at work, and neglect their family and other interests.
Migrænikerforbundet are skeptical of the results as they are not consistent with results from studies made on a scientific basis.
The press release was based on an internet survey paid for by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, the producer of the migraine medicine RELPAX.
The press release specifically stated that "More than 500,000 Danes suffer from migraines, and almost 400,000 of them are not in medical treatment.
The survey shows that 55 per cent of the untreated migraine patients are no longer being treated, because previous treatments have not helped, or because of side effects. "
It was an open survey, ie. those who responded did not prove that they had migraines. This means that those who responded were not necessarily honest. It is therefore not unexpected that the study results are not really consistent with findings from previous scientific studies.
The claim that 400,000 migraineurs are not in medical treatment is in contrast to results from a study involving over 5,000 participants from France, Germany, Italy, UK and U.S. Here, half of the migraineurs have not been to the doctor for their migraine, because they believed that OTC medications were completely satisfactory (1).
In the same group of migraineurs, only 10% had received one or more prescriptions for a triptan. The figure is slightly higher in Denmark, where the Medicines Control's data indicate that there are approx. 75,000 triptanbrugere in Denmark, ie. ca. 15% of the migraineurs, and that number is slightly increasing each year. It is also unlikely that 55% of sufferers who are not in 'medical treatment' (ie more than 200,000 migraineurs) should have abandoned the offered medical treatment because of side effects.
In this country, 84% of all migraineurs had less than 14 days with migraine per year (ie approx. 1 day per month) in 1989 and in 2001 there were 61% who had less than 14 migraine days per year (2). Although there was an increase in the number of migraine days per year from 1989 to 2001, it is unlikely that 8 out of 10 in 2011 migraineurs have migraines more than once a month, as mentioned in the press release.
Migrænikerforbundet warns against interpretations of results collected in a piecemeal fashion. There is therefore no reason to give credence to the postulate that there would be 200,000 migraineurs who have given up trying to take medicine when they have migraine attacks. The press release is much more likely to be a part of the marketing of Pfizer's migraine medication.
(1) EA MacGregor, J. Brandes and A. Eikermann, 2003. Migraine prevalence and treatment patterns: the global migraine and zolmitriptan evaluation survey. Headache 43, 19-26.
(2) AC Lyng Berg, BK Rasmussen, T. Jorgensen and R. Jensen, 2001.Has the prevalence of migraine and tension-type headache changed over a 12-year period? A Danish population survey. Eur J Epidemiol. 20, 243-9.
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Migrænikerforbundet are skeptical of the results as they are not consistent with results from studies made on a scientific basis.
The press release was based on an internet survey paid for by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, the producer of the migraine medicine RELPAX.
The press release specifically stated that "More than 500,000 Danes suffer from migraines, and almost 400,000 of them are not in medical treatment.
The survey shows that 55 per cent of the untreated migraine patients are no longer being treated, because previous treatments have not helped, or because of side effects. "
It was an open survey, ie. those who responded did not prove that they had migraines. This means that those who responded were not necessarily honest. It is therefore not unexpected that the study results are not really consistent with findings from previous scientific studies.
The claim that 400,000 migraineurs are not in medical treatment is in contrast to results from a study involving over 5,000 participants from France, Germany, Italy, UK and U.S. Here, half of the migraineurs have not been to the doctor for their migraine, because they believed that OTC medications were completely satisfactory (1).
In the same group of migraineurs, only 10% had received one or more prescriptions for a triptan. The figure is slightly higher in Denmark, where the Medicines Control's data indicate that there are approx. 75,000 triptanbrugere in Denmark, ie. ca. 15% of the migraineurs, and that number is slightly increasing each year. It is also unlikely that 55% of sufferers who are not in 'medical treatment' (ie more than 200,000 migraineurs) should have abandoned the offered medical treatment because of side effects.
In this country, 84% of all migraineurs had less than 14 days with migraine per year (ie approx. 1 day per month) in 1989 and in 2001 there were 61% who had less than 14 migraine days per year (2). Although there was an increase in the number of migraine days per year from 1989 to 2001, it is unlikely that 8 out of 10 in 2011 migraineurs have migraines more than once a month, as mentioned in the press release.
Migrænikerforbundet warns against interpretations of results collected in a piecemeal fashion. There is therefore no reason to give credence to the postulate that there would be 200,000 migraineurs who have given up trying to take medicine when they have migraine attacks. The press release is much more likely to be a part of the marketing of Pfizer's migraine medication.
(1) EA MacGregor, J. Brandes and A. Eikermann, 2003. Migraine prevalence and treatment patterns: the global migraine and zolmitriptan evaluation survey. Headache 43, 19-26.
(2) AC Lyng Berg, BK Rasmussen, T. Jorgensen and R. Jensen, 2001.Has the prevalence of migraine and tension-type headache changed over a 12-year period? A Danish population survey. Eur J Epidemiol. 20, 243-9.
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