James
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Posts by James Cottrill:
Migraine Art: The Migraine Experience from Within (review)
It may not be obvious to everyone why Migraine Art: The Migraine Experience from Within is such an important book. But this magnum opus from Klaus Podoll and Derek Robinson is a key to migraine research that has been a long time coming.
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I’ve been dealing with migraine symptoms for well over 20 years. I’ve read countless pages of research, and innumerable experiences from migraine and headache sufferers from around the world.
Even after all that, there’s still more to learn about our symptoms. Sometimes we ourselves don’t realize consciously what we’re experiencing – maybe because it’s become so "normal". Or we fail to realize how different someone else’s symptoms are, assuming everyone is like us.
That’s one reason why migraine art is so powerful. When we don’t know how to put things into words, sometimes we can relay information more completely through art. The works in Migraine Art that have been collected over many years tell us a story that we rarely get from research and statistics.
Our understanding of the brain has come a long way in the last 20 years. But in some ways, what we’ve learned has brought up more questions than answers. Migraine art has given us a glimpse into the brain that no scan can yet give us.
For example, in 1941, US neuroscientist Karl S. Lashley amazingly predicted the concept of the concept of cortical spreading depression, by drawing and timing his own visual aura experiences. This idea of the "brain storm" that impacts migraine is one of the most modern theories of how migraine works.
Throughout this beautiful book of full colour pages, Podoll and Robinson analyze migraine art that demonstrates not only various symptoms, but also triggers, and even how migraine impacts life in general.
You may not see the same statistics here that you’ll see in other research. The point is not to give an overview of all migraine research, but instead to see migraine in the light of the art. However, the book is carefully foot noted and connected to research, again making it an important contribution not just to patients but to the researchers and medical professionals as well.
If you want to understand your own symptoms better, and those of others, there are few books that will offer more insight. This is the work on migraine art from the top experts in the field, based on many years of careful research.
You may be wondering how Migraine Art differs from the also excellent Migraine Expressions: A Creative Journey through Life with Migraine. Migraine Expressions is also a colourful book full of migraine art, but it also includes poetry and prose. It’s focused simply on the works of patients, and is easy to pick up and flip through.
Migraine Art: The Migraine Experience from Within is a more scholarly work. It’s more focused on specific symptoms and their expression in art, and goes into detail about what the art means. It’s emphasis is on pictures (more than 300 of them!), not writing (although it includes descriptions of the art by migraineurs). You’ll learn much more about the history and use of migraine art, and symptoms you’ve probably never heard discussed other places.
Don’t take this book to be the end-all of migraine research. On the other hand, if you want to get an intimate glimpse of migraine from a unique perspective, I highly recommend this book. It’s also a must have for serious researchers – a work unlike any other that will be valued for years to come.
Migraine Art thus stands as the definitive work of its kind–an incomparable collection of material on the visual and other phenomena of migraine, and, by implication, on the brain processes which underlie these. It will serve to reassure, enlighten, and inspire…
– Dr. Oliver Sacks, from the Forward
Migraine Art: The Migraine Experience from Within now available here
1% Thursday: What are you taking your medication with?
This week – double check what you’re taking your medication with.
What am I talking about? Well, most of us are familiar with the fact that some medication should be taken with food, some on an empty stomach, and so on. Sometimes this impacts how the drugs work in your body. Other times it’s just a matter of what’s more comfortable for you.
But there are other issues that you may or may not hear from your doctor. Taking certain medications along with supplements, for example, could be a problem. You may find both work better if they’re taken at different times. Or you may need to cut out a supplement while taking a certain medication.
There is increasing concern about taking medications with juice – not just grapefruit juice, the most famous, but other juices such as apple and orange. Various chemical interactions could mean you end up with more or less medicine than you bargained for – both a serious problem. Try sticking to water.
Even taking some supplements together can be a problem. For example, many people take calcium with magnesium, not realizing that you need to take magnesium for migraine without calcium (read more here).
So – quick tips:
- Try taking your medication with water, not juice
- Make sure your doctor is aware of all the medications and supplements you’re taking
- Check a reliable source for yourself to investigate possible interactions. Good online sources include Medline Plus (English and Spanish, includes herbs) and MedBroadcast, and others. I prefer to have a published work on hand, and like The Pill Book.
What is 1% Thursday?
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Every Thursday at Headache and Migraine News (weather permitting) we’ll talk about one measurable, practical thing we can do to make our lives just 1% better. Usually it will be something very easy, sometimes it will be a challenge. Let us know if you try it, or share an idea of your own – and maybe a year from now we’ll see that things have really changed for the better!
Obstacles to Effective Treatment: Poll Results
The question was asked of our visitors: What do you feel is your biggest challenge when it comes to getting effective treatment?
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You can see the responses to the right.
First, I was glad to see that Lack of support from family and friends only got 2%. That doesn’t mean it isn’t an issue – clearly it is. But it’s good to know that’s not the biggest obstacle most people face, because it really is a difficult one to overcome.
Finances tops the list, not surprisingly, considering the cost of many treatments. Finances of course come into play with other obstacles mentioned as well. What if insurance won’t cover you? Many excellent non-traditional treatments are not covered. And what if a good specialist or treatment is too far away?
A lack of local help was a big issue – combining lack of local specialists and lack of local treatment, 29% considered this their biggest obstacle. Part of this probably relates to the lack of knowledge out there about headache and migraine conditions – a good doctor may be close, but she may not be up to date on the best treatments available.
Frustration with the medical system was another big factor, at 26%. Though related to finances, this can take on added dimensions, as patients try to go through the proper channels to get the proper treatment – only to find dead ends.
Finally, 7% said that the biggest obstacle was myself – I need to decide to take action. Though certainly there are some who have put off getting treatment when they shouldn’t have, there are many issues here as well. What about the person who has been ignored or put down by doctors, and who is reluctant to go back? And what if you’ve tried treatment after treatment – it can be hard to keep going.
There are no easy answers to these issues. Continuing research and education will go a long way in getting the right treatment to the right people at a reasonable cost. More understanding and knowledge for doctors, specialists, and even those family and friends, will make a big difference.
There are answers, there is hope, and now is not the time to give up. It’s time to fight back.
1% Thursday: Illustrate your Experience
This week, draw a picture illustrating your headache, cluster headache and/or migraine symptoms. If possible, share it with someone.
Using art in the diagnosis, research and treatment of various diseases has a long and glorious history. There are good reasons why art is so powerful – and good reasons why you should be using it to your advantage.
We’ve talked before about having children "draw their headache" – how and why. One of the whys is because children can often express things through art that they can’t express through words.
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But the truth is, we all express things through art forms of various kinds that we for whatever reason have trouble expressing in words. Art such as drawing, photography, photo manipulation, painting, but also poetry, music – even body language and story telling.
But this week I recommend using the visual arts. Illustrate, in some way, your experience – draw your symptoms, or your frustrations, or whatever comes to mind.
In the end, you may find you have something valuable to share with your doctor. Or, maybe you’ve just clarified something in your own mind that will make it easier to express in words the next opportunity.
If not your doctor, share it with a family member or friend. Or, share it with us!
What is 1% Thursday?
|
Every Thursday at Headache and Migraine News (weather permitting) we’ll talk about one measurable, practical thing we can do to make our lives just 1% better. Usually it will be something very easy, sometimes it will be a challenge. Let us know if you try it, or share an idea of your own – and maybe a year from now we’ll see that things have really changed for the better!