Tuesday, February 23, 2010
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Dealing with migraine pains By Thea Rutherford ~ Guardian National Correspondent ~ thea@nasguard.com: They are the pounding headaches that seem to keep their own schedule of torture. You can usually expect them at the same time, complete with the same level of excruciating pain. They can even keep you away from some of your favorite foods. They are migraines and, unfortunately, they come without a cure. "Migraines are recurrent headaches that can occur in an individual which may have some characteristic features," said Dr. Edwin Demeritte, the neurologist who heads the Bahamas Neurological Center on Dean's Lane. Migraines "may usually be throbbing in nature, may usually be on one side of the head," he said. "They usually will last for prolonged time periods, either hours or several days." Symptoms of the condition include vomiting, loss of appetite, stomach upset or abdominal pain, sensitivity to light, noise, odors and nausea. For migraines with aura — the type of migraines that come with a set of symptoms before the onset of the actual migraine — similar symptoms occur in addition to others like yawning, irritability, low blood pressure and dark colors under the eyes. The symptoms can begin about 30 minutes before the headache. "In the other patients," said Demeritte of migraines without aura, "the migraine comes on suddenly without warning and can be severe from its onset." According to the Migraine Awareness Group: A National Understanding for Migraines (M.A.G.N.U.M.), the condition affects 32 million people in the United States, a figure that Demeritte said should find its percentage equivalent based on the population here, although there are no official figures for the number of sufferers locally. Migraines can also occur in children and adolescents. A child with a migraine may exhibit symptoms of blurred vision, fever, upset stomach, paleness and dizziness. "In adults and children migraine phenomena is a little bit different," said Demeritte. "When you talk about migraines . . . what you're saying is you have an underlying predisposition," said Demeritte. While what causes migraines is unknown, the condition is connected to the contraction of blood vessels and other changes in the brain, notes the site WebMD. The good news is that migraines can be treated. Most patients undergo either abortive or preventative treatments. Treatment also includes the avoidance of trigger factors like certain types of foods — chocolate, cheese, red wine among them — or emotional stress, smoking, exercise and particular odors among others. "When you look at the approach to migraines it can be divided into a number of ways. There's abortive treatment where a headache is just ongoing and you are taking something to stop or shorten the period of discomfort," he said. "If that's not working some people may utilize some stronger analgesics which may have some narcotic in them." Medications won't alter the frequency of the migraine occurrence, Demeritte warned. "If you are having migraine headaches at a frequency of once a week, you will continue to have it once a week. The only thing that you're doing is trying to shorten the duration of the headache so that the person is able to resume their functioning."
Monday January 25, 2010 |
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