Zomig study: Headache response as early as 30 minutes in migraine associated with menses.(Brief Article)

2002 JUN 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Data presented at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) annual meeting suggests that Zomig (zolmitriptan), a product of AstraZeneca (AZN), produces headache response as early as 30 minutes, increasing up to 2 hours, in women with migraine associated with menses.

The findings may be important for this subgroup of migraine sufferers that have been generally regarded as difficult to treat. Zomig is indicated for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults.

Migraine in women is often associated with onset of menses. Approximately 70% of all female migraineurs have attacks during menses, and between 7-25% of these women experience migraine headaches almost exclusively during menses (menstrual migraine).

"Many women with migraine report that their headaches are more likely to occur with menstruation," observed Elizabeth Loder, MD, director of the headache management program at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, and principal investigator of the study. "Like other migraine attacks, these can be debilitating, especially when associated with other symptoms such as nausea, cramping and backache. Effective treatment is very important for female migraineurs who experience menstrually associated migraine attacks."

In this study 510 women (18-55 years old) treated a total of 1232 migraine attacks of any severity. Severe attacks were treated with 5mg, moderate with 2.5 mg, and mild with 1.25 mg doses of Zomig tablets. At 30 minutes, headache response (reduction from mild/severe pain at base line to mild/none) was achieved in 18% of patients in the Zomig group versus 14% of patients in the placebo group (p

At 1 hour, headache response was achieved in 33% of Zomig patients versus 23% of placebo group, (p

In this study headache response was defined as moderate/severe headache decreasing to mild ...