Uncategorized

10 December 2018

Your Questions: Reducing Stroke Risk When You Have Migraine

Another great question from Molly in Japan: What can we do as migraine sufferers to reduce our risk of stroke?

I won’t post the specific of Molly’s case here, but there’s another question behind the question – just how are migraine and stroke connected? Could migraine attacks “predict” stroke?

Lower your stroke risk Our knowledge of the stroke-migraine connection continues to increase. We do know that there is a link between migraine and stroke. There seems to be some genetic reason for this, particularly in the case of large artery stroke and cardioembolic stroke. Migraine may increase your risk for other types of cardiovascular disease as well.

The connection between migraine aura and stroke is a tricky one. Many studies seem to indicate that patients with aura are at greater risk. There is also a danger if your symptoms change – for example, if your aura symptoms last for an hour or more, you should get to emergency right away.

Reducing Stroke Risk

So how can migraine patients reduce their risk?

Drugs: Discuss the drugs you’re taking with your doctor, especially if you’re at high stroke risk for other reasons. Avoid illegal drugs. The connection between triptan medications and stroke is controversial, but it’s probably more important to use triptans if they alleviate migraine attacks than to avoid them – if they help significantly. Cannabis may increase your risk.
Smoking: If you’re a smoker, quitting may be the single most important thing you can do to lower your risk.
Migraine is serious: So your doctor (and you!) need to take it seriously. Don’t consider it “normal”. Keep looking for better treatment. If at all possible, see a specialist.
Watch out for sugar: Sugar, especially refined sugar, and sugar “spikes”, can lead to all kinds of problems for the migraine patient. It can lead to direct attacks, and to health problems that can increase risk of migraine attacks and risk of stroke. Be careful with sugar, and with sweeteners (don’t replace sugar with sweeteners – just cut down).
Meant to move: Your body was meant to move. Anytime you can add movement to your life, even if its little by little, it helps decrease your risk of stroke.
General diet: After many years of research, I remain convinced that improving your diet is one of the most powerful things you can do to fight migraine. This will mean being organized, and learning to do some cooking for yourself. Don’t take the “convenient” way out – eat real, whole food. The less packaging, the better.
Medical history: Be sure you have a doctor who knows your medical history. Do you have other types of heart disease? Is there a history in your family? These things will help your doctor/specialist show you ways to decrease your risk.
Keep track: As mentioned above, keep track of any changes in your symptoms, and see a doctor when things change.

Although migraine may increase your risk of stroke, your risk may still be low. It depends on what other risk factors are in your life. But generally speaking, all the tips above are helpful for health in general, whether you’re at high risk or not.

Thanks for the question, Molly!

1 November 2018

Struggling with Rosacea? Tell Your Doctor about Your Headaches.

James Uncategorized 0

Rosacea is a chronic skin condition, that first shows up (usually on the face) as episodes of “flushing” or redness of the skin. If it gets worse, it can include a burning sensation, long term redness, and spots and bumps appearing on the skin. Sometimes small blood vessels become visible.

This isn’t really a post about rosacea, but if you want to learn more, here are some resources:

Overview from the NHS on Rosacea
All About Rosacea (National Rosacea Society)
Rosacea (MedlinePlus)

The point of this article is to ask you to let your doctor know if you also have migraine – especially if it’s new onset migraine.

Rocacea is poorly understood, and there is growing evidence of a neurological link. Certain medications used for neurological conditions (such as migraine) may be helpful in cases of rosacea (although today these are not common treatments).

That’s why researchers were interested to discover a link between new onset migraine and rosacea in women. The link was even stronger in women over 50.

If you’re interested, you can read an article about the study here: Rosacea Linked to New-onset Migraine

But meanwhile, if you have both conditions, or even if you start getting headaches in general, let your doctor know. Researchers are hoping to find that treating one condition (such as migraine) may actually help clear up the other condition (such as rosacea).

10 July 2018

What The Sports Industry Doesn’t Want To Know (but you probably already know)

James Uncategorized 0

We’ve talked a lot about concussions, a type of brain injury, here. Thankfully, some changes are being made in the world of sports to help athletes avoid concussions and their effects.

But a recent study in the journal Brain is telling us something we probably already know – but it’s still worth repeating.

CTE. It stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a measurable disease of the brain (measurable by an autopsy, but symptoms are visible).

Symptoms include trouble thinking, impulsive behaviour, depression, memory problems, and possibly progressive dementia.

CTE is controversial, partly because it’s hard to measure the disease against the symptoms (since you can’t do an autopsy on a living patient). There’s even controversy about how common it is – from extremely rare to almost certain if you’re an athlete.

Advanced CTE Back to the study. The study focuses first on an autopsy of four teenagers, in which CTE was detected. Then researchers tested a hypothesis that a hit to the head could cause CTE. (Dr. Lee Goldstein, who took part of the study, does an impressive job explaining in the video below – please take the time to watch it.)

The current concern is not so much that concussions can lead to CTE – of course concussions are a major concern. But the current concern is that hits – simply repeated hits to the head, even if there is no concussion – can lead to CTE.

We all know that getting hit in the head repeatedly can’t be good. And although most of us don’t want to put kids or teens (or adults!) in a bubble their whole lives, we also have to be aware of what certain sports may be doing to them over the long term.

30 May 2018

MWS – Real Treatments Rated, Real Patients Helped

James Uncategorized 0

It is so, so helpful to see actual scientific evidence for migraine treatments, and also to see what has actually helped real people – with names.

This combination of scientific studies, along with real case studies, is powerful. Especially in a world where you’re tempted to rely on the last commercial you saw, a YouTube video that was “suggested” for you, or what your local doctor happens to know.

Many of you are already using the 2018 Migraine World Summit library of resources. And you already know what I’ve said about the focused interviews with top migraine experts.

But if you’re still on the fence, you should know about a number of resources that also come with the interviews. Such as:

The new Vitamin and Supplement Guide. What supplements actually work? What is the evidence behind them? What should I beware of?
Patient Case Studies – how much have these actual patients improved, and what has helped them most? Incredible. These aren’t nice stories, they are charts with usable information.
2018 Migraine Treatment Guidelines Summary – again, which treatments have the most scientific evidence behind them? What is most effective? Don’t waste your money on what is “most advertised”… No, these are not just “drugs”!
Trigger Guide – common (and less common) triggers, with lists of practical tips. Not just an article saying “tough luck”.

I’m sure that many many hours of work has been put into this material, which is full of references and details.

These are the kinds of resources that we can use to fight back against migraine in our personal treatment. This is a great way to empower yourself to have more relief this summer than ever before.

To see more details about the complete package, visit the 2018 Migraine World Summit page here.

23 May 2018

Female Sexual Dysfunction and Migraine and Headache Medications

James Uncategorized 0

Just how common is female sexual dysfunction? It’s a complicated question. Although it’s extremely common for women to report some kind of problem sometime, it’s a whole different question when you start asking about actual dysfunction and what that is.

Man and Woman But statistics aside, the problem is real, and in many cases it could be caused by your migraine or headache medication.

Migraine patients, and patients with various headache conditions, often have many symptoms to think about. And, of course, there can be many causes of sexual problems. It’s hard to know what to mention to your doctor, and with sexual activity that may be new or not regular, sexual dysfunction from medication may not be something easily recognized.

Medications can especially interfere with both desire and pleasure during sex. Common culprits include:

Antidepressants: Antidepressants are often prescribed for migraine prevention, even when the patient is not depressed. Common examples of these medications are amitriptyline (Elavil, Entrip, Triptaz, etc), nortriptyline (Pamelor, Allegron, etc), desipramine (Norpramin, Pertofrane, etc), doxepin (Sinequan, Sinepin, etc).
Beta-blockers: Another migraine preventative, beta blockers can cause problems with desire and orgasm, as well as vaginal dryness. Examples include propranolol (Inderal) and metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol XL).
Calcium channel blockers: As with beta-blockers. Common examples are verapamil (Calaptin, Veramil etc) and nimodipine (Nymalize, Nimotop)
Anticonvulsants: Another migraine preventative. Anti epileptic drugs are commonly prescribed for migraine, and some may be worse than others when it comes to sexual dysfunction. Examples include valproate, topiramate, and divalproex sodium.

Although these are some common categories, there are a number of other drugs that may affect sexual function.

It’s worthwhile noting that many of these drugs will also cause problems for men, though often for different reasons.

If you’re concerned, talk to your doctor. There may be another similar medication that will control your migraine attacks but won’t interfere with sex.