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Click on the topic you want to read:High-risk factors for developing long-lasting migraine
There are a number of high-risk factors for developing continuous migraine. Some we may control, some are out of our control.Risk factors for developing continuous migraine
• Over-consumption of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines
• Mixing different prescription medications
• OTC used against all attacks
• Injuries to the head
• Vomiting
• Using oestrogen-based birth control pills
• Many migraine attacks
• Bad experiences with preventive medicine
• Migraine began early in life.
Factors that reduce the risk of continuous migraine
• No other types of headache
• Flickering lights do not provoke migraine
• Parents with migraine with aura
• Moderate consumption of beer and wine
• PMS
• Pains change from side to side in the head
• Long-lasting use of preventive medication
• Aura only as a visual disturbance
• Many years of education.
The authors do not mention the relative importance of the factors.
E. Loder and D. Biondi, 2003. Disease modification in migraine: a concept that has come of age? Headache 43, 135-143.
Uploaded 02-03-2005
Hearing everything - migraineurs problem
Migraineurs are different from other people - in their reactions to stimuli such as sound. A study of 14 migraineurs without aura and 14 healthy people showed that the migraineurs´ brains didn´t ´get used to´ a continuous sound (1), nor did they react less if the sound was repeated (2). Scientists call the first reaction (to continuous sound) ´habituatuation´ while the reaction to the interrupted sound is called ´gating´ (i.e. we develop a mental interrupter so that we don´t hear the next sound as being so loud).Even if the results hadn´t shown any correlation between the two phenomena and migraineurs, many would probably nod in recognition of the reactions. Continuous sound does seem to disturb migraineurs more than other folk and we may generally perceive more details than healthy folk, not only of sounds around us, but also of visual impressions and smells.
Maybe these results are the reason why migraineurs often avoid crowds and spectacles and other experiences that give too many impressions. (1) A. Ambrosini, P. Rossi, V. De Pasqua, F. Pierelli and J, Schoenen, 2003. Lack of habituation causes high intensity dependence of auditory evoked cortical potentials in migraine. Brain 126, 2009-15.
(2) A. Ambrosini, V. De Pasqua, J. Afra, P. S. Sandor and J. Schoenen, 2003. Reduced gating of middle-latency auditory evoked potentials (P50) in migraine patients: another indication of abnormal sensory processing? Neurosci. Lett. 306, 32-4.
Uploaded 03-03-2005
Red is seen less by migrainerus with aura
Experiments using coloured spectacles have demonstrated that migraineurs with aura see red colours less intensely than non-migraineurs.J. Afra, A. Ambrosini, R. Genicot, A. Albert and J. Schoenen, 2000: Influence of colors on habituation of visual evoked potentials in patients with migraine with aura and healthy volunteers. Headache 40, 36-40.
Uploaded 03-03-2005
Taste and smell are different in migraineurs
1237 patients with different types of headache and migraine were studied to find out if they experienced taste and smell in the same way as a group of control persons. It was found that 25% of the migraineurs (but nearly none of the other headache patients) tried to avoid smells or strongly-tasting food.L. Kelman, 2004. The place of osmophobia and taste abnormalities in migraine classification: a tertiary care study of 1237 patients. Cephalalgia 24, 940-946.
Uploaded 06-04-2006
Pain is perceived differently by migraineurs
An Italian study has shown that migraineurs´ brains react to pain (which unfortunately is called stress in the paper) in other ways than ´normal´ people. The doctors subjected the volunteers (migraineurs and non-migraineurs) to discomfort by giving them a tight cuff around their arm for a few minutes. They measured the brains´ reactions (particularly alpha-waves that are especially produced when the brain experiences something uncomfortable).There were two degrees of discomfort - severe and not-severe. The alpha-waves of non-migraineurs showed a clear difference to the severe discomfort, but not to the non-severe. Migraineurs´ alpha-waves changed in the same way as non-migraineurs did to the severe discomfort, but the changes to migraineurs started to happen during the less-severe discomfort.
The authors suggest that migraineurs have a fault in how the brain experiences pain, but don´t imply that we are more sensitive than others. I. Rainero, M. Amanzio, S. Vighetti, B. Bergamasco, L. Pinessi and F. Benedette, 2110. Quantitative EEG responses to ischaemic arm stress in migraine. Cephalalgia 21, 224 - 229.
Uploaded 03-03-2005
Biogenic amino acid content in migraineur's blood higher
It is well-known that patients treated with MAOI (Monoamine-Oxidase Inhibitor) against depression can get headaches by eating food that contains tyramine. That was the reasons for looking to see if headache or migraine patients might have increased amounts of biogenic amines (such as tyramine) in their blood. Tyramine is broken down quickly so the content of the breakdown product octopamine was also studied.Biogenic amines are found in the blood cells in tiny pckets called vesicles that can be be emptied when the body, for some reason or other, needs their contents. A group of receptors (nerve endings) have recently been found that react to ´trace amines´ (amines in very small amounts). They are especially common in parts of the brain.
The people studied (36 control persons, 34 who had migraine with aura, 16 with migraine without aura and 44 with Hortons headache) ate food that did not contain tyramine for a week before the study started so that the amount of the chemical in their blood would be their body´s own. Migraineurs with aura had a higher content of octopamine even between attacks, but not tyramine, while migraineurs without aura had only a little higher amount than the controls. The highest amounts were found in people with Horton´s headache, both during attacks and between them. The scientists suggest several explanations. Maybe migraineurs, and especially folk with Horton´s, have less ability to break down biogenic amines (they lack the appropriate enzymes). Maybe their hypothalamus (part of the brain) doesn´t work properly. Maybe the scientists just haven´t yet thought of the reason.
G. D´Andrea, S. Terrazzino, A. Leon, D. Fortin, F. Perini, F. Granella og G. Bussone, 2004. Elevated levels of circulating trace amines in primary headaches. Neurology 62(10) 1701-1705.
Uploaded 26-05-2005
Migraineurs´ blood vessels in the brain lack a control function
22 migraineurs (both with and without aura) and 33 healthy people had their blood pressure measured as well as the amount of blood flowing through the medial cranial artery. These showed that migraineurs (with and without aura – there was no difference between the two groups) appear to lack a mechanism that regulates blood pressure in individual arteries in the brain. It takes some time for the blood pressure of non-migraineurs to change if the blood flow alters. Migraineurs lack this delay and it is the blood pressure alone that determines how much blood flows through the artery. The scientists express this by saying that migraineurs lack an ´autonomous filter´ that works by evening out the effects of variations in blood pressure. The scientists think that there is a connection between these results and migraineurs´ lack of ´gating´ – i.e. their inability to ignore sounds or sounds that repeat more than 5 times.M. Müller and M. Marziniak, 2005. The Linear Behavior of the System Middle Cerebral Artery Flow Velocity and Blood Pressure in Patients With Migraine. Lack of Autonomic Control? Stroke 36, 1886-1890.
21-10-2006
Magnesium in blood of menstruating women migraineurs is lower
Menstruation migraine can be difficult to treat, so doctors are looking for an explanation for how these attacks arise. It has long been known that there is a connection between an abrupt fall in oestrogen in the blood and menstruation migraine, but now an additional explanation is forthcoming. 61 women with typical menstruation migraine and 66 control women had blood samples taken around their menses. Nearly a half (45%) of migraineurs had low amounts of magnesium ions (Mg2+), while only 14% of the control persons had low blood concentrations. Women with other types of migraine than menstruation migraine also took part in the study and their magnesium amounts were equivalent to those of the controls (15% had low amounts). The doctors explain that magnesium participates in the regulation of many neuro-transmitters (signal chemicals in the nerves) and also in the release of NO. Low numbers of magnesium ions in the cells and blood are also known to lead to contractions. Unfortunately the scientists don´t tell us if we can alter the blood´s magnesium content by taking it as a pill.A. Mauskop, B. T. Altura and B. M. Altura, 2002. Serum ionized Magnesium levels and serum ionized Calcium/Ionized Magnesium rations in Women with menstruational migraine. Headache 45, 242-248.
Uploaded 03-03-2005
Magnesium in urine - migraineurs are different
There have been much speculation about the connection between lack of magnesium and migraine, but it has not been generally possible to show that magnesium supplements either as pills or as dietary supplements should relieve migraine sufferers. Nonetheless, there is something. If non-migraineurs take a magnesium supplement, it is excreted in their urine. Migraineurs who took the same amount of magnesium (1 g in this study) excreted it more slowly - there was less magnesium in migraineurs urine for the first 24 hours than in that of the healthy controls.The scientists interpret this as showing that migraineurs have, after all, some kind of lack of magnesium. But they don´t yet know what that means for in terms of attacks.
A. Trauninger, Z. Pfund, T. Koszegi and J. Czopf, 2002. Oral magnesium load test in patients with migraine. Headache 42, 114 - 119.
Uploaded 03-03-2005
Nitrite in urine
For a long time it has been proposed that migraine attacks are triggered by NO (nitrous oxide), which is released by the blood vessels when they contract. NO is converted quickly to nitrite or nitrate in the blood. So someone has now looked at how much nitrite and nitrate migraineurs excrete in their urine.It has been found that, between attacks, migraineurs excrete much more nitrate than nitrite than non-migraineurs. During an attack the amount of excreted nitrite and nitrate is reduced.
There is no difference between migraineurs with and without aura. Unfortunately no information is yet available about how we can reduce the production of NO in the blood vessels.
I. Ciancarrelli, M. G. Tozzi-Ciancarelli, C. Di Massimo, C. Marini and A. Carolei, 2003. Urinary nitric oxide metabolites and lipid peroxidation by-products in migraine. Cephalalgia 23, 39-42.
Uploaded 03-03-2005
Mental and physical handicaps of migraine
Migraine hits both physically and mentally The quality of life is measured by asking people questions about how they themselves feel about how they feel. For a long time it´s been known that migraine reduces the quality of life of its sufferers. The questionnaires are now refined enough that it´s possible to distinguish between physical and mental quality of life.A study of 90 migraineurs in the USA has shown that those migraineurs that are hardest hit are also those with the lowest quality of life - not just physically, but the mental condition of the hardest hit migraineurs was also bad.
Even though the scale on the figure makes the differences look small, quality of life for both groups is so much lower than expected that the doctors classify migraineurs as ´seriously handicapped´, both physically and mentally.
The authors stress that it is important that migraineurs avoid developing an overuse of medicine that itself will result in daily migraines.
D. M. Meletiche, J. H. Lofland and W. B. Young, 2001. Quality-of-life differences between patients with episodic and transformed migraine. Headache 41, 573-578.
Uploaded 03-03-2005
Reaction times faster for migraineurs
At an international symposium in London in September 1996, arranged by the British Migraine Trust, the German scientist Stefan Evers told about an experiment with 11 migraine patients who got migraine now and again for unknown reasons, and a control group. The participants in the experiment were asked to look at 200 small blinking lights, while the activity of their brains was being measured. Most of the lights were white but 15% were red. When the participants saw a red light they should press a button. It was expected that the migraine patients experiencing an attack would press the button later than the control group and also later than when they weren’t experiencing a migraine attack. The results showed, to everyone’s surprise, that the migraine patients reacted faster and faster after an attack until they got the next attack. This pattern repeated itself regularly with relatively predictable attacks of migraine after between 10 and 40 days. Evers thinks that the migraine patients who took part suffer from a cyclic alteration in their brains, but has no other explanation of what lies behind these results. About 5% of the migraine patients had a type of migraine which is not triggered by external influences. New Scientist 28. September 1996.Uploaded 03-03-2005
Diurnal rhythm different for migraineurs
All of us have a slightly slower pulse during the night than during the day. This is one of the daily rhythms that get disturbed when we fly around the world and get jet-lagged. A Japanese study of 27 migraineurs and 24 others has now shown that the variation in migraineurs´ heart rhythms is less pronounced than those of non-migraineurs. Unfortunately they don’t say if we get less jet-lag than the others.Headache 2000, 40, 457-463.
Uploaded 03-03-2005
Yawning before a migraine attack
There is now medical documentation that shows that we yawn more than normal just before an attack. A description of 3 patients (case studies) showed that it is quite normal to yawn for half an hour or more before an attacks starts.D.E. Jacome, 2001. Compulsive yawning as migraine premonitory symptom. Cephalalgia 21, 623 - 625.
Uploaded 03-03-2005
Light and bloodstream through the lowest cranial artery
A study of 19 migraineurs and a control group showed that shining light into the eye causes increased blood stream through the lowest cranial artery of migraineurs, but not of the control non-migraineurs. The migraineurs hadn´t had migraine during the previous three days before the study. A special light source was used in a darkened room and the exposure to the light was about a minute. The difference between the migraineurs and the control group showed as soon as the light was lit and again after about 40 seconds. Patients with many attacks reacted more strongly than patients with few attacks. The patients weren´t chosen for the susceptibility to light.M. Bäcker, D. Sander, M. G. Hammes, D. Funke, M. Deppe, B. Conrad and T. R. Tölle, 2001. Altered cerebrovascular response pattern in interictal migraine during visual stimulation. Cephalalgia 21, 611-616.
Uploaded 03-03-2005
Chewing muscles are big in migrainerus
Migraineurs apparently clench their teeth more than other folk. A study of 30 different parts of the face muscles and bones showed that there is no difference between the faces of migraineurs and others apart from that on average migraineurs have 70% bigger chewing muscles. Migraineurs also have a ca. 50% stronger bite than non-migraineurs. Migraineurs´ finger strength was no greater than that of others, so the stronger bite is not because of greater musculature in general.Unfortunately, the study did not show whether we get migraine from clenching our teeth, or whether we clench our teeth because we have migraine.
P.-J. Lamey, C. A. Burnett, L. Fartash, T. J. Clifford and J. M. McGovern, 2001. Migraine and masticatory muscle volume, bite force, and craniofacial morphology. Headache 41, 49-56.
Uploaded 03-03-2005
Time doesn´t run more slowly during migraine attacks
It may feel otherwise, but in fact our ability to feel how fast time is passing is as good as that of other people, even when we have a migraine. 40 migraineurs (average age 35), who hadn´t had a migraine attack during the 24 hours before the start of the study, and an equivalent control group were asked to guess how long a sound signal lasted. It could be 1/2, 1, 1 1/2 and 2 seconds. Another test measured the time between two tones. There was no difference between the abilities of the migraineurs and the control group, so it must be concluded that migraineurs´ sense of time is no worse than anyone else´s.E. Anagnostou amd D. D. Mitsikostas, 2005. Time perception in migraine sufferers: an experimental matched pairs study. Cephalalgia 25, 60-67.
Uploaded 06-04-2006
A gene for migraine on our mitochondria?
The members of 166 families in which at least one member had had a diagnosis that meant a fault on a mitochondria gene were asked about their other illnesses that could be caused by this defect.Mitochondria are the energy centers of a cell and they are inherited only from the mother – which means that any inheritance has nothing to do with the father. If a person has a mitochondrial defect it can be either a mutation in the person him/herself or it can be inherited from his/her mother. The defect was clearly inherited in 55 of the 166 families with people with this defect. The other 111 families had no sign of inheritance. Among the 55 families where the defect had been inherited, both one person and his/her mother had a large amount of migraine, depression and problems with digestion (more than a half of the mothers had all three problems). The fathers had only the normal frequencies of depression, migraine and problems with digestion (about 10% for each illness).
The scientists suggest that the mother´s mitochondrial defects are inherited in some families and that at least some migraineurs can blame their migraine on this genetic defect.
B. B. Burnett, A. Gardner and R. G. Boles, 2005. Mitochondrial inheritance in depression, dysmotility and migraine? Journal of Affective Disorders 88, 109–116.
Uploaded 21-10-2006
Blood platelets and white blood cells clump more in migraineurs
A German study reported in Cephalalgia in 2005 has shown that blood platelets and white blood cells (leucocytes) have a greater tendency to form clumps in migraineurs without aura, but not in migraineurs with aura. The clumping was found in patients who had taken triptans within the previous 3 days (1). The scientists speculated whether there might be a connection between the triptans and the clumping.A new German study has shown that the blood platelets and white blood cells had clumped together in non-migraineurs 2 hours after they had inhaled nitric oxide (NO) (2). And yet another study, investigating what happens in muscles that are exerted to their utmost, has shown that blood platelets and white blood cells form clumps after very strenuous muscle activity (probably because NO is released when muscles are subjected to great exertion) (3).
So while we have to conclude that blood platelets and white blood cells probably form clumps after a migraine attack without aura, the effect is probably due to an increased amount of NO in the blood just before the attack.
(1) J. A. Zeller, V. Lindner, K. Frahm, R. Baron and G. Deuschl, 2005. Platelet activation and platelet-leucocyte interaction in patients with migraine: Subtype differences and influence of triptans. Cephalalgia 25, 536-541.
(2) A. Herr, S. Kirsch, J. Motsch, E. Martin and A. Gries, 2005 Effects of Inhaled Nitric Oxide (iNO) on Platelet-Leucocyte Interactions in Healthy Volunteers. American Society of Anestesiologists Annual Meeting Abstracts, Atlanta October 22-26, 2005.
(3) S. Pasupathy, K. M. Naseem and S. Homer-Vanniasinkam, 2005. Effects of warm-up on exercise capacity, platelet activation and platelet-leucocyte aggregation in patients with claudication. British Journal of Surgery, 92, 50-55.
Uploaded 21-10-2006
Surroundings are not experienced as changed by migraine
The Danish register of twins gives us a great deal of useful information. David Gaist from Odense has now studied whether there is a difference between the cognitive senses of migraineurs and non-migraineurs (our ability to uderstand what is around us).Luckily he found that there is no difference between migraineurs and non-migraineurs even if the former have had migraine for many years.
347 twins with migraine without aura and 257 with aura took part in the study where they and their migraine-free twins were subjected to a series of psychological tests.
D. Gaist, L. Pedersen, C. Madsen, I. Tsiropoulos, S. Bak, S. Sindrup, M. McGue, B. K. Rasmussen and K. Christensen, 2005. Long-term effects of migraine on cognitive function: a population-based study of Danish twins. Neurology 64, 600-7.
06-04-2006
Twins function just as well whether they do or don´t have migraine
The Danish Register of Twins was used to find middle-aged twins of whom one had migraine and the other had not.The twins were interviewed over the telephone and 536 were found to have migraine. They and their migraine-free twins were tested with a number of questions that should show whether there was any difference in their mental understanding of the world. No difference was found between the migraineur and non-migraineur twins.
The scientists concluded that we do not lose our mental faculties faster because we have migraine.
D. Gaist, L. Pedersen, C. Madsen, I. Tsiropoulos, S. Bak, S. Sindrup, M. McGue, B. K. Rasmussen and K. Christensen, 2005. Longterm effects of migraine on cognitive function: a population-based study of Danish twins. Neurology 64, 600-607.
Uploaded 21-10-2006
Doctors with migraine give their patients a better quality of life
711 doctors in France were asked if they had migraine, and one patient from each practice was asked about their quality of life. It was found that doctors with migraine had more migraine patients than non-migraine doctors and patients attending doctors who had migraine had a better quality of life than patients attending the non-migraine doctors.N. Fabre, J. P. Daures, M. Weber, P. L. Druais, J. Dardenne, T. Marquet and A. El Hasnaoui, 2000. Medical attitudes facing migraines: methodology and first results of a French study. Cephalalgia 20, 365.
Uploaded 03-03-2005
Surroundings are not experienced as changed by migraine
The Danish register of twins gives us a great deal of useful information. David Gaist from Odense has now studied whether there is a difference between the cognitive senses of migraineurs and non-migraineurs (our ability to uderstand what is around us).Luckily he found that there is no difference between migraineurs and non-migraineurs even if the former have had migraine for many years.
347 twins with migraine without aura and 257 with aura took part in the study where they and their migraine-free twins were subjected to a series of psychological tests.
D. Gaist, L. Pedersen, C. Madsen, I. Tsiropoulos, S. Bak, S. Sindrup, M. McGue, B. K. Rasmussen and K. Christensen, 2005. Long-term effects of migraine on cognitive function: a population-based study of Danish twins. Neurology 64, 600-7.
Uploaded 06-04-2006
Earning less is a problem for young migraineurs
A study of the effect that migraine has on the quality of life of young people in New Zealand has shown that 26-year-old migraineurs on average earn less than non-migraineurs of the same age. Only 29% of migraineurs earned more than NZ$30,000, while 42% of 26-year-old non-migraineurs earned more than that amount per year. The young migraineurs had more pain, less vitality, poorer social contacts and poorer mental health then their equivalent non-migraineurs.K. E. Waldie and R. Poulton, 2002 The burden of illness associated with headache disorders among young adults in a representative cohort study. Headache 42, 612-619.
Uploaded 03-03-2005
Costs of migraine
Everything can be worked out in money - even if we think it is good or less good. In the USA the costs of migraine at work have been reckoned in dollars and that can maybe provoke some thinking.Direct and Indirect expenses
The direct expenses for medicine are reasonably easy to work out and the number of days of sickness can be worked out from interviews with migraineurs. But, according to the American figures, the greatest costs from migraine come from the days when we are at work, but aren´t particularly effective because of an attack. The American figures show that only 13% of the accumulated costs are used on medicine. The costs of sick days and less effective days at work are divided so that 18% of the total costs are attributed to days off and the remaining 69% of costs are attributed to reduced production on the bad days.
An average American migraineur is thought to lose 3 days every three months. On the bad days, their productivity is reduced by 41% (but no information is given about how this is worked out).
Reduced productivity in the USA because of migraine is as great as that from back pains and significantly greater than for arthritis. Reduced productivity is greatest among young women, among whom more than 6% of employees have reduced production of more than 2 hours per month because of migraine. The American doctors conclude that migraineurs are not being properly treated and that many could feel much better if they received preventive treatment.
R. B. Lipton, W. F. Stewart and D. W. Dodick, 2004. How to Engage Employers to Improve the Outcomes of Migraine Sufferers. http://www.medscape.com/viewprogram/3462
Uploaded 06-04-2006
Preventing attacks is cheaper than treating them
It is expensive to take triptans - for both the migraineur and for the social welfare system that pays for the medicine.It has been calculated that in USA the expenses to a patient that began to take triptans during 1998 - 2001 was $560 during the first year and $871 during the following year.
Migraineurs who continued to take triptans used an average of $1505 per year for their triptans. Preventive treatment cost only $560.
No costs because of days off from sickness etc were included. All the numbers are total costs as if there were no subsidies for the medicine. L. R. Etemad, W. Yang, D. Globe, A. Barlev and K. A. Johnson, 2005. Costs and utilization of triptan users who receive drug prophylaxis for migraine versus triptan users who do not receive drug prophylaxis. J Manag Care Pharm. 11, 137-44.
Uploaded06-04-2006
Employers may save money on a migraine policy
The Spanish Post Office took part in a trial by making an effort to get migraine-affected people to feel better. A medical consultant was employed to advise employees with migraine. The doctor could also prescribe triptans or preventive medicines to folk who needed them.Employees were asked how much time they lost because of migraine, both before and after the doctor´s efforts. The 436 employees with migraine lost, on average, 0.48 work-days for each attack before the doctor started. This fell quickly to an average of 0.07 days per attack after the doctor´s help.
T. Vicente-Herrero, T. A. Burke and M. J. Lainez, 2004. The impact of a worksite migraine intervention program on work productivity, productivity costs, and non-workplace impairment among Spanish postal service employees from an employer perspective. Current Medical Research and Opinion 20, 1805-14.
Uploaded 06-04-2006
Perfectionists have more migraine?
There has been some discussion about whether migraineurs are perfectionists who get migraine if everything doesn´t happen as it should, because they are stressed if things aren´t perfect. So two American scientists have questioned 291 university students about whether they had migraine and about how they reacted to everyday stress and lack of structure and order.198 of the students had chronic migraine, 179 often had migraine and 69 had migraine occasionally. The scientists discovered that the students who had most migraine were also more perfectionist than those who only had a few migraine attacks. The scientists concluded at one point in the paper that the students had migraine because they were stressed, because their existence didn´t live up to their perfectionism. At another place, the scientists concluded that of course it cannot be decided which is the reason and which the consequence between perfectionism and migraine.
S. Bottos and D. Dewey, 2004. Perfectionists´ appraisal of daily hassles and chronic headache. Headache 44, 772-779.
The Danish Migraine Association thinks that badly hit migraineurs need masses of mental energy to deal with their migraine. So it´s undertandable that hard-hit migraineurs have somewhat fewer resources to invest in everyday problems. As the scientists write, they can´t be sure what is the reason and what is the consequence, so, until it is shown otherwise, we have to conclude that migraineurs with many attacks also react more strongly to everyday problms (and avoid concluding anything about whether stress results in migraine or migraine results in stress).
Uploaded 06-04-2006
Young women with migraine loose time
1810 women between the ages of 18 and 35 from European countries, who used prescription medicine for their migraine, kept notes for 6 months about its effect on school/work, family and time off.46% lost one day or more from work or school. On average, the 1810 women lost 2 days in every 6 months. More than half of the women had neglected family and/or friends and had had to cancel social arrangements on one or more days. Women who lived alone (singles, widows, separated/divorced) lost more than those who lived in a relationship.
Only few (1% Greeks) young migraine women took triptans in the Mediterranean countries, while 50% of Swedish young female migraineurs took these. There is a general tendency for more users of triptans in the Nordic countries.
A. N. Dueland, R. Leira, T. A. Burke, E. V. Hillyer and S. Bolge, 2004. The impact of migraine on work, family and leisure among young women -- a multinational study. Curr-Med-Res-Opin. 20, 1595-1604.
Uploaded 06-04-2006
Sick days
A team of scientists interviewed the employees in an Italian company (Bulgari) about their headaches and migraine. About one in four migraineurs had stayed home for at least one day during the previous three months.More than half of the migraineurs complained of 1 - 7 days per month with migraine. 15% of the migraineurs thought that their productivity was reduced to under a half of its normal when they had migraine.
D. D´Amico, S. Genco and F. Perini, 2004. Workplace disability in migraine: an Italian experience. Neurological Science 25 Suppl 3, S251-2.
06-04-2006