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Study offers new insight into menstrual headaches.(Brief Article)
2002 JUN 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Estrogen fluctuations may turn on and off genes that control pain and blood vessels, according to results of recent research that sheds new light on the cause of menstrual migraines. These findings may help experts develop more effective treatments for the estimated 6 million American women who have more frequent and intense migraines around the time of periods or during ovulation.
Migraines are headaches characterized by one-sided throbbing pain, nausea, and hypersensitivity to light and noise. They are three times more common among women than men. However, this gender gap is only present in adults; prepubescent girls and boys experience migraines at the same rate. This, combined with the fact that migraines vary with pregnancy and menopause, has pointed the finger at fluctuating female sex hormones.
While the exact cause of migraines remains a mystery, most experts agree that changes in blood flow in and around the brain play an integral role. According to a leading theory, stress, alcohol, hormones or other triggers cause electrical changes in the brain that lead to the opening and inflammation of surrounding blood vessels. Serotonin, a naturally occurring chemical in the brain, seems to be involved in this inflammatory process. The pain and other symptoms of a migraine are thought to arise from alterations in blood flow and inflammation.
Menstrual migraines are often more severe and last longer than other headaches. "Cyclical drops in estrogen are thought to trigger menstrual migraines," said Loretta Mueller, DO, a headache specialist at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Moorestown, "But exactly how is still not known."
About 20% of migraine sufferers experience a physical warning sign called an aura before a headache sets in. Auras are visual changes such as seeing spots or blurred vision. Increasing evidence suggests that an electrical chain reaction in the brain called cortical spreading depression is the cause of migraine aura.
K. Michael Welch, MD, and colleagues at Kansas University Medical Center in Kansas City examined ...
- Monophasic OCs said to ease menstrual migraines.(Gynecology)
- Magazine article from: OB GYN News Melville, Nancy A. February 15, 2005 700+ words
...believed to be the key culprit behind menstrual migraines, low-dose monophasic oral contraceptives...hormone dosage will help alleviate menstrual migraines, but the dosage schedule can make...place, said Dr. Lay Even worse for menstrual migraines are triphasic pills, which cause...
- Magnesium in menstrual migraines.(Brief Article)
- Magazine article from: Internal Medicine Alert August 15, 2002 700+ words
...serum IMg seem to be associated with menstrual migraines, although causal etiology and pathogenesis...IMg deficiency were 45% during menstrual migraines, 15% during nonmenstrual attacks...In some series the incidence of menstrual migraines is 24%, and their management is...
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- Magazine article from: OB GYN News Norton, Patrice G.W. September 15, 2003 700+ words
...contrary to the common belief that menstrual migraines are more difficult to treat. Migraines...show any difference in the way that menstrual migraines responded to treatment or in the...has menstrual-related or true menstrual migraines is to track them over a 3-month...
- Tennis star: There's help for menstrual migraines.
- News wire article from: Miami Herald (Miami, FL) April 22, 2005 700+ words
...awareness among women who suffer from menstrual migraines. About 13 million American women...back." There are two types of menstrual migraines _ menstrually related migraine and...triptans, is one treatment for menstrual migraines _ successfully in the case of Williams...
- Magnesium in menstrual migraines. (Brief Alerts).(Brief Article)
- Newspaper article from: Neurology Alert Apatoff, Brian R. July 1, 2002 700+ words
...1Mg deficiency were 45% during menstrual migraines, 15% during nonmenstrual attacks...In some series the incidence of menstrual migraines is 24%, and their management is...serum IMg seem to be associated with menstrual migraines, although causal etiology and pathogenesis...
- Frovatriptan relieves pure menstrual migraines.(Drug overview)
- Magazine article from: Family Practice News Splete, Heidi June 15, 2006 700+ words
...significantly fewer--and less severe-menstrual migraines, compared with women who took a...for the prophylactic treatment of menstrual migraines. The patients were randomized to...menstruation. The incidence of pure menstrual migraines, defined as migraines that occurred...
- Frovatriptan appears to offer relief for menstrual migraines.(Gynecology)
- Magazine article from: OB GYN News Splete, Heidi June 15, 2006 700+ words
...significantly fewer--and less severe--menstrual migraines, compared with women who took a...for the prophylactic treatment of menstrual migraines. The patients were randomized to...menstruation. The incidence of pure menstrual migraines, defined as migraines that occurred...
- Menstrual migraines: more severe but treatable.(Women's Health)
- Magazine article from: Family Practice News Mahoney, Diana August 15, 2004 700+ words
...observational study has shown. The intensity and duration of menstrual migraines can be mitigated in some women through prophylactic treatment...settled before the routine use of triptan prophylaxis for menstrual migraines can be advocated," Dr. Elizabeth Loder of Harvard Medical...
- Menstrual migraines: are they double the trouble?(Neurology)
- Magazine article from: Internal Medicine News Bates, Betsy September 1, 2006 700+ words
...were twice as likely during the menstrual cycle, and menstrual migraines lasted longer, were somewhat more painful, and proved...efficacy of rizatriptan administered early in the course of menstrual migraines and the safety and tolerability of frovatriptan taken...
- No more menstrual migraines: there's a new way to send pain packing. (Cosmo...
- Magazine article from: Cosmopolitan Grumman, Rachel February 1, 2003 700+ words
...medication called frovatriptan (or Frova) is ideal for menstrual migraines, which tend to build up slowly (over 6 to 12 hours...once a day, starting three to five days before your menstrual migraines tend to strike.
Source: HighBeam Research, Study offers new insight into menstrual headaches.(Brief Article)