The cause of migraine – not so simple

One of the complaints that has come out of the recent Larry King Live show on migraine was the rather vague description of what happens during a migraine attack from Dr Frank Lawlis.  According to the rush transcript, what he said was something like this: "What happens in migraine is that your blood vessels start squeezing down…then it just blows up. Your blood vessels just get huge…So, what you can teach your body to do is react to the stress by not suppressing your cardiovascular system…

We talked earlier about the confusion regarding what actually causes migraine.  Listening to this quote you would think that stress is causing your blood vessels to contract, and that leads to a migraine attack.  Migraine is a lot more complex than that, based on genetic factors and having as much to do will neurons as blood vessels.  Some researchers don’t even classify stress as a migraine trigger any more.

To start collecting more information about the cause of migraine, I’ve moved the information to its own page and expanded it.  If you want to learn more about the current theories of what happens in the person getting a migraine attack, read this page on the cause of migraine.

You’ll also notice some changes at the home page, highlighting the causes of some of the most common headaches, and making it easier to find your way around.  Take a look!