Discoveries & Stats

22 November 2005

Insomnia is not “normal”

You really should get some sleep. The report from Canada is that 1 in 7 of us don’t get enough sleep. That 1 in 7 person has trouble going to sleep almost all the time. And a fifth of those are lucky to catch 5 hours. Canadians who were obese, heavy drinkers and frequent users of marijuana were more likely to have trouble sleeping, but that didn’t explain the high numbers. Stress during the day also seems to be connected (no surprise there).

You really should get some sleep. And, might I add, popping sleeping pills is probably not the answer. Sleeplessness, or even sleepiness during the day, can have a number of causes. This may point to a more serious problem that can be solved or minimized with treatment.

One of the problems is that we often don’t really realize how tired we are. It’s those who brag that they only need 5 hours of sleep a night that have trouble staying awake during the meeting, or who must have a steady intake of caffeine to survive. In some of us this struggle to fall asleep or stay awake can lead to major swings of headache attacks, migraine attacks, and less ability to cope.

You really should get some sleep. If you can’t, talk to your doctor and get to the root of the cause. You’ll be glad you did!

16 November 2005

What your triggers may be telling you…

James Discoveries & Stats, Tips 0

As if you still had any doubt, your triggers may confirm whether you have migraine or a tension headache. Clinical Psychiatry News came up with a list of what triggers seemed to cause what type of attack. Tension and migraine have some in common. For example, if you’re not getting enough sleep, or if you skip a meal, you could find yourself with either a tension headache or a migraine attack. Weather changes are also prime suspect for both.

But several triggers seem to hit migraineurs a lot worse. Take for example the sleep issue – oversleep is a killer for me and many others. But it rarely causes tension headache. Foods, odours and hormonal changes are also common migraine triggers.

These are reminders again that migraine is simply not just another headache (it’s often not a headache at all, in fact!). There are very different things taking place in the body with either headache. This is why there are generally much better treatments for migraine than just your over the counter painkillers.

This study came to my attention in Elaine Magee’s Tell Me What To Eat if I have Headaches and Migraines.

9 November 2005

Getting better treatment faster

James Discoveries & Stats, Tips 1

You’ve been struggling with these strange symptoms for a long time. You’ve tried aspirin, Tylenol, and several other over-the-counter painkillers. You tried Aunt Martha’s tea and Cousin Bill’s stretching regime. Finally, it’s time to go to the doctor. And what do you hear? "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning"!

It’s not as cliché as it may sound. It seems many doctors still start treating severe headaches and migraine by prescribing low-potency over-the-counter painkillers. Not that there’s anything wrong with them – they help a lot of people. But by the time most people go to the doctor, they’ve tried all the basic stuff, and need more careful treatment.

In their recent book Migraine and Other Headaches, Drs Young and Silberstein talk about a study that was done on the care doctors give right from the start. Some start with the cheaper, less effective, non-specific drugs. Then they move on to the more targeted treatment. Others start with the targeted specific treatment right from the start. For example, for migraine they would start by using migraine-specific medication and treatment.

So who had the better results? In this case, the battle seems to go to the bold. When targeted treatments were tried from the beginning, the eventual outcome was better. What’s a targeted treatment? Well, for example, using Triptan medications for migraine, such as Maxalt or Zomig. These are designed specifically for migraine.

So when you go to the doctor, make sure they take the time to hear what you’ve tried and what your symptoms are. Why waste more time and money on what doesn’t work?

3 November 2005

Nasal cavities and migraine

James Discoveries & Stats 0

Here’s yet another surgery for migraine. Of course, surgery is generally a long long way from your first options when it comes to migraine. Still, it may be that this will be the solution for some of my readers in the future.

The study was done at Christ Hospital in Jersey City, USA. The improvement? Number of days with migraine attacks cut in half, and the attacks were less severe.

The surgery? A simple one, called endoscopic nasal surgery. Apparently some people have nasal cavities that press on each other. Why would this cause problems? Well, it could be that a migraine is triggered because the trigeminal nerve is stimulated. It may be that certain chemicals are released that are triggering symptoms.

Dr Andrew Dowson*, medical advisor of Migraine Action Association, believes that there may be a connection between nasal contact triggers and PFO triggers. “Conditions such as intranasal contact points and a hole in the heart probably generate added ‘neurological noise’,” he told BBC news.

PFO and cluster

James Discoveries & Stats 0

You knew that PFO, a congenital (present at birth) heart defect was related to migraine, but did you know it was related to clusters as well? The heart defect known as Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is an opening between the left and right atria of the heart. 1 in 5 people may have this defect. In most cases, that’s not a big deal.

At the Univeristy of Genoa in Italy, Dr Cinzia Finocchi and team found that cluster patients were far more likely to have the defect than others.

Why? It has been theorized that low oxygen in the blood may help start the cluster cycle. The mixing of blood through the hole could make enough of a difference.

Dr Finocchi doesn’t recommend everyone rush out to get the available surgery just yet, however. There’s no evidence…not yet…that closing the hole will end the cluster attacks.