News

18 February 2016

USA: Federal Pain Advisory Committee Appoints Headache Advocate

Congratulations to Cathy Glaser, founder and president of the Migraine Research Foundation, who was recently appointed to a federal advisory committee focused on pain disorders.

The Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (IPRCC) was created under the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with the goals of collecting information about pain diseases and disorders and their treatments, and to make recommendations to federal agencies on how to more efficiently fight pain disorders.

The committee is made up of seven federal members, six from the scientific and medical community, and six public members. Up until this point, there have been not been public members focused on headache disorders (migraine or anything else), in spite of the prevalence of headache disorders.

Cathy will bring her years of experience with the Migraine Research Foundation, her interaction with doctors researchers, and specialists in the USA, as well as her personal family experience with migraine to the committee.

Feel free to congratulate Cathy! Hopefully there will be a renewed focus and renewed research on pain conditions including migraine and headache in the year ahead.

Check the link in the sidebar to support the migraine research through the MRF!

25 January 2016

Is Your “Targeted” Migraine Painkiller Worth the $$$?

James Medications, News 0

If you had a choice between a package 200mg ibuprofen tablets (generic), and a product known as Fast Acting Migraine Formula, which would you choose? Hey, if the package was professional and the claims were reasonable, many of us wouldn’t mind paying a little more for the targeted migraine medication, right?

Recently Reckitt Benckiser, a company based in England, raised eyebrows in Australia when it was discovered that a whole line of specialized painkillers were – the same thing.

Nurofen Painkillers This was the Nurofen line, including Nurofen Period Pain, Nurofen Migraine Pain, Nurofen Tension Headache – all products that appeared to be specially formulated for a specific thing.

The active ingredient? Ibuprofen – 200mg – the same in every product.

But – don’t people look for something specifically for headache? Dr. Aomesh Bhatt, regulatory and medical affairs director for Nurofen, defended the marketing in that way. “Consumer research indicates that 9 in 10 people (88%) look for pain relief for a specific type of pain (eg headache, migraine, back pain) and 7 in 10 (71%) say pain-specific packs help them decide which product is best for their needs.” (see Nurofen maker Reckitt Benckiser defends Australia packaging)

We all want people to be able to find the medication they need. But did everyone realize that they were not really getting something specifically targeting for migraine pain?

To make the question more interesting, here’s another interesting fact. Not all these products were the same price. For example, ASDA Migraine Relief was half the price of Superdrug Migraine Relief – even though they both contained the equivalent of 200mg of ibuprofen.

The court in Australia was not amused, asking Nurofen to remove the products from the shelves. No changes were immediately planned for other countries.

All that to say, be cautious about what you’re spending extra money on. Just because it says “Migraine” on the box, doesn’t mean it’s any more special than the cheaper box next to it. Read the label and do your research, and save your money.

7 January 2016

$5 Eye Drops to Stop Migraine Attacks?

James Medications, News 1

Reports that a common type of eye drops may be able to stop migraine is getting attention. And researchers think there may be good reason why it could work for many more people.

Could it be that, with all the talk about specially formulated pills and new injection techniques, that we’ve been missing another obvious delivery method?

Timolol eye drops Several years ago the story came out of a woman who had been suffering from monthly migraine attacks. At one point she was diagnosed with bilateral ocular hypertension, and started taking eye drops (a timolol maleate solution). She didn’t have another migraine attack – and was still migraine free after 18 years.

Since then there have been more reports. Some patients take the eye drops regularly, others just at the first sign of an attack.

Timolol is actually already well known as a migraine preventative (though not as eye drops). It’s a beta-blocker, a common type of medication for migraine.

But beta-blockers are preventatives. They’re not known for stopping attacks once they start. But what if an eye drop version could do just that? Could it be that the medication gets into the system faster, and is able to abort the attack?

The University of Missouri in Kansas City, USA wants to answer that question. They’re starting a trial which will test the use of timolol drops as an abortive migraine medication. If the trial is a success, it could change the way we use beta-blockers and other medications for migraine.

And a few dollars for bottle of common eye drops – that’s a whole lot better than what many of us have spent in the past.

Also see:

4 January 2016

Teva Pushes Ahead with New Migraine Treatments

James News 0

This past September, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced that it’s anti-migraine patch, Zecuity, was finally available in the USA. Zecuity takes the tried-and-true sumatriptan and makes it new again. The unique patch delivery system should help patients that haven’t had success with sumatriptan in the past.

You can learn more about Zecuity at their official website.

Teva Pharmaceuticals But Teva is pushing ahead with a completely new medication, currently known by the catchy name TEV-48125. TEV-48125 is a monoclonal antibody that binds to calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), one of many similar medications being tested now.

Teva is moving into phase 3 of its trial of the medication this year. And that means the earlier trials have been successful.

First, no safety concerns have emerged so far. Second, TEV-48125 is working. Tried for patients with both chronic and episodic migraine, it tended to cut down hours with headache, and decreased the number of days with headache. It also helped patients who were not having success with their current medication.

As a preventative medication for those with severe chronic migraine, it started working as early as one week, but results were almost 5 times better after a month of treatment was completed.

It’s looking hopeful that TEV-48125 will help patients with severe migraine who have had trouble finding successful treatment in the past. Next month, Teva hopes to start a new trial which will be completed in the fall of 2017.

For more information about past trials, see:

11 November 2015

Why You Should Ignore the “Daith Piercings for Migraine” Hype

James News

The comments on this article are now closed.
To share your experiences, resources, and clinical trial information,
please visit Daith Piercing for Migraine: Resources and Updates

Actually, it’s not even that much hype. But you may have seen an article circulating about how piercings, specifically daith piercings, may eliminate migraine attacks.

Daith piercing is a specific type of ear piercing, where the pierce goes through the ear’s innermost cartilage fold (if you have enough fold to get it done). Here’s some more information, plus pictures, from Body Piercing Magazine.

So stories have started to circulate that daith piercings could cure migraine. Take for example:

A “Piercing” New Alternative for Migraine Relief Summary: One nurse has never heard of it, but suggests you go for it. Especially if you “believe”. A man who does piercings for a living most definitely suggests you go for it.
Woman claims her EAR PIERCING has cured the excruciating migraines that left her housebound and vomiting Summary: One woman claims that her migraine attacks disappeared after her piercings (we don’t know how long ago that was). Someone at the Migraine Relief Center in Texas apparently wrote a blog post stating that daith piercings may work like acupuncture, which may work. However, the post has been removed from their website.
A “Piercing” New Alternative for Anxiety and Migraine Relief: New Findings Summary: Finally, some “Findings”! The same nurse still hasn’t heard of it. One woman has seen “some difference” in her headache symptoms, but isn’t sure the changes are related to the piercing. The same guy selling piercings still recommends them. Oops – what were the findings again?
Can Daith Piercings Stop Migraines? Here’s What You Need To Know About The Growing Trend Summary: Oh, good, a “trend”! With actual Twitter testimonials! Oh, wait … one person has fewer attacks … a second person says things have improved … oh, that’s all.
Lots Of People Are Saying This Piercing Has Completely Cured Their Headaches Summary: Ok, “lots of people”. Oops – just one person quoted.

I also found a Twitter “club” where people can share their success stories. On October 17th, the owner (Natalie Thompson) had gone 39 days since the piercing, with no migraine attacks. In an interview she stated that she would like to think the piercing was a “part” of her improvement. On November 2nd she asked Is this damp and foggy weather affecting anyone? Maybe not feeling so well now? However, the club does have 23 followers.

In most cases, the daith piercing is being compared to acupuncture, a treatment that unfortunately has been far more hype than actual evidence. But this isn’t acupuncture anyway, it’s daith piercing, so …

I checked a little more on social media, and discovered that some people found the piercing gave them a migraine attack, and others found no or very little difference.

We can speculate all we want about the science of why this might work, but the fact of the matter is that it doesn’t seem to be working for that many people. There are no clinical trials. I can’t find any doctors saying that they have x number of patients who have found it helpful.

So it all leaves me spectacularly unimpressed.

And as far as the advice,”Try it, why not?” – well, with all the excellent treatments out there, I can actually suggest some reasons why not. Use up your mental and emotional energy, and money, on something that has some good evidence behind it. And if you really like the look of a daith piercing – go for it, but realize it actually could give you a headache. At least for a while.

I’ll say this – it is a good illustration of a lot of what is wrong with media reporting on migraine.

For more, check out this article on Snopes: A Daith of Evidence