Exactly What Is A Migraine And Just What Are Its Signs And Symptoms?

Posted by admin

One of the commonest migraine symptoms is an intense throbbing pain that is generally located on only one side of the head close to the temple. Unlike normal headaches, migraines are also often accompanied by additional symptoms which include sensitivity to noise and light, queasiness and sometimes vomiting.

Migraines are fairly common and affect about 10% of the population of America, or more than 28 million Americans. They are also much more commonly experienced by women rather than men (about 3 times as many women suffer from migraine headaches) and can also be see sometimes in children.

Although migraine headaches are so common and normally very painful with an attack lasting anything from a few hours to two or three days, only about half of all sufferers consult their physician and the rest elect to suffer in silence.

Migraine headaches had long been thought to be were caused by a of dilation of the blood vessels in the head but, despite the fact that there is no general agreement, medical opinion seems to be changing in favor of a genetic cause for this problem. It is now believed that migraine headaches results from the interaction of brain chemicals like serotonin with the nerve cells. Currently however the truth of the matter is that we are really not sure what cause migraines.

There are in fact two forms of migraine, the first of which is called 'classical migraine', which is characterized by an associated 'aura'. In this case the term 'aura' is used to refer to visual light effects which are experienced just before the onset of a headache including things like bright light spots and flashing lights. In some cases a complete loss of vision may be experienced for several minutes before the arrival of the headache.

The second type of migraine headache is a migraine without the prior symptoms of an 'aura'.

In exactly the same way that we do not know what causes a migraine headache, so too we have little idea about just what gives rise to an attack, though there are several factors that do seem likely to trigger an attack in sufferers. For example, too much sleep appears to be one factor, as does missing meals or eating particular foods like cheese.

Hormones are also believed to influence the onset of attacks and their severity and one piece of evidence for this is the increased incidence of migraines among women. This in part is thought to be because estrogen affects the blood vessels and some studies have noted that there is a link between the contraceptive pill (which contains estrogen) and migraines.

However, just to confuse matters studies have also demonstrated that simple everyday activities like walking up stairs can trigger an attack, as can exposure to heat or cold, loud noises, flashing lights and sometimes stress.

Happily, there are various migraine treatments available, though no one treatment is really effective in all cases. Over-the-counter medications are however rarely effective and, if you suffer from migraines, then you would be best advised to seek the help of your physician in finding an answer which works for you.