Headaches
Headaches, fatigue tied to kids’ unexplained pain
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Children who often suffer headaches or daytime drowsiness may be at heightened risk of developing unexplained body aches and pains, a study has found.
Researchers found that of more than 1,000 children they followed for one year, those who said they had weekly headaches or bouts of sleepiness were more likely to develop “non-traumatic” pain in their muscles or joints.
Parent’s pain may affect child’s migraine severity
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The degree of disability and pain suffered by adolescents with migraines may have a lot to do with how their parents experience pain, a new study shows.
Dr. Ann Pakalnis and colleagues found that, as the number of chronic pain-related conditions reported by a parent increased, so did the child’s number of days with migraine, hours of disability due to headache, and use of anti-migraine triptan medications.
Gentle yoga may aid migraine sufferers
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A combination of yoga poses, breathing exercises and relaxation may help reduce the frequency and intensity of migraines, a new study suggests.
Researchers in India found that among 72 adults suffering from migraines, patients who were randomly assigned to take part in a yoga therapy program started having headaches less often and endured less pain with each migraine attack compared with the subjects assigned to a self-care group.
Migraines During Pregnancy Linked to Stroke and Other Vascular Diseases
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Migraines during pregnancy are strongly linked to vascular diseases, such as stroke and heart disease, according to research that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 59th Annual Meeting in Boston, April 28 – May 5, 2007.
Researchers looked at a national database of nearly 17 million women discharged for pregnancy deliveries from 2000-2003. A total of 33,956 of the women were treated for migraines.
Migraine linked to heart attacks in men
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Men with migraine headaches are more likely than non-migraineurs to experience a heart attack, according to data from the Physicians’ Health Study.
The Physicians’ Health Study is a large study that enrolled men ages 40 to 84 years between 1981 and 1984. The subjects, who had no history of heart disease, cancer or other major illnesses at enrollment, complete questionnaires annually regarding health issues.
Jefferson researchers want to learn if heart defect ‘at heart’ of some migraines
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Researchers of the heart and headaches at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital are combining efforts to determine if a common heart defect may be the cause of some forms of migraine headaches.
Investigators from the Jefferson Heart Institute and the Jefferson Headache Center are enrolling participants in a blinded study to determine if closing a Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO), a small hole or flap that can allow blood to flow between the right and left sides of the heart, can stop migraines. In newborns, the PFO closes at or shortly after birth, but in 20 percent of adults the gap remains open to some degree.
Innovative Treatment for Migraines Combines Botox and Surgery
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Five years ago, Sharon Schafer Bennett suffered from migraines so severe that the headaches disrupted her life, kept her from seeking a job and interfered with participation in her children’s daily activities.
Now, thanks to an innovative surgical technique performed by a UT Southwestern Medical Center plastic surgeon who helped pioneer the procedure, the frequency and intensity of Mrs. Bennett’s migraines have diminished dramatically - from two to three per week to an occasional one every few months.
Osteopathy may reduce tension headache frequency
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Osteopathic treatments can help reduce the frequency, but not the intensity, of tension-type headache, new findings hint.
People who received the treatments and performed relaxation exercises had more headache-free days than those who only did the relaxation exercises, Dr. Rosemary E. Anderson of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute in Canada and Dr. Caryn Seniscal of the Canadian College of Osteopathy, also in Toronto, report.
Osteopathy is a branch of medicine that considers the structure and function of the body to be interrelated, and the body to be capable of regulating and healing itself.
Migraine associated with high-normal sex drive
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For some individuals prone to migraine, this susceptibility may not necessarily interfere with their sex life and may in fact improve their libido, according to research published in the journal Headache.
“The goal of this research was to understand migraine better,” lead author Dr. Timothy T. Houle told Reuters Health. “By better understanding how the brain is altered with this syndrome, we can develop better drugs in the future.”
“Migraineurs have other commonly associated symptoms, such as sleep abnormalities and a higher risk of depression. Altered sex drive may be another quirk of being a migraineur,” he added.
Heavy periods often plague women with migraine
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Excessive menstrual bleeding, a problem called menorrhagia, is more common in women who suffer migraine headaches than in women who do not get migraines, research suggests.
Women with migraine also seem to have a higher frequency of endometriosis—an often-painful condition in which tissue that normally lines the uterus is found elsewhere in the abdomen.
Topiramate for migraine improves quality of life
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The anti-epileptic drug topiramate (Topamax) improves health-related quality of life when used to prevent migraine headache, according to a new study.
Topiramate has previously been shown to be an effective and generally well-tolerated migraine preventive, lead author Dr. Merle Diamond noted in an interview with Reuters Health. However, she pointed out that the question remains as to whether it improved “a patient’s ability to function at home, at work, (and) overall to accomplish what they need to.”
Blood pressure drugs may prevent headaches
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Findings from a large analysis of clinical trial data indicate that the use of blood pressure-lowering drugs can prevent a substantial proportion of headaches.
The fact that agents of different classes produce this effect suggests that the mechanism is the ability to lower blood pressure, lead author Dr. Malcolm Law, from London Queen Mary’s School of Medicine and Dentistry, and colleagues note. Yet, findings from observational studies have not supported a link between high blood pressure and headaches.
