Migraine Research Foundation

14 April 2016

Antibodies for Migraine: Finding a Target

A huge emerging area of medical treatment is in the study and use of antibodies. Imagine if you were a sharpshooter, with a special gun that could attack certain cells or substances in the body. There would be little or no collateral damage – the bullets would only hit what you wanted to hit.

Now imagine that you could use that gun (an antibody medication) to shoot the messengers that were carrying around pain signals in your body – and in this way you could stop a headache in its tracks.

Antibodies for Migraine Sounds great, doesn’t it? That’s what many many researchers around the world are thinking too. Though a relatively new field, it’s growing quickly, especially in conditions such as cancer and immune related diseases (such as Crohn’s disease and multiple sclerosis).

And, of course, this type of treatment has caught the imagination of migraine specialists. But the question becomes – what should the antibody gun shoot at?

The use of monoclonal antibodies directed against CGRP (calcitonin gene-related peptide neurotransmitter) is probably the hottest area of research in the area of antibodies for migraine. CGRP is the target, and this type of medication is showing a lot of promise as multiple companies race to get it the market. (Read more: The â€œRevolutionâ€ in Migraine Treatment (Dr. Peter Goadsby))

But there are other targets that are being researched. For example, Dr. Yu-Qing Cao of the Washington University Pain Center has carried out research (funded by the Migraine Research Foundation) on cytokines and chemokines as new targets for the antibody sharpshooters.

Cytokines and chemokines? What are they? Well, they’re types of protein in the body that coordinate immune responses. They’re handy to have around, but when they get out of control they can cause inflammation and degeneration on a neurological scale.

There are certain proteins that may rise in headache patients – could we shoot them down and stop the headache?

In a trial with mice (you have to start somewhere), the results of the proper antibodies were promising.

Drugs are already in the pipeline that could hit some of these migraine-specific targets, such as clazakizumab which is being developed for arthritis pain.

So this is what many researchers are doing – finding possible targets, looking for links with headache and migraine, and finding ways to shoot them down to keep them from causing problems, such as PAIN.

Check out the links below if you want to learn more. But if you want to help further migraine research, visit the Migraine Research Foundation and donate today (if you don’t need a tax receipt, or you’re outside of the USA, encourage our community by donating through this link. Either way the funds go directly to the MRF.)

18 February 2016

USA: Federal Pain Advisory Committee Appoints Headache Advocate

James News 0

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!

18 December 2015

Pushing Ahead with Migraine Research

James Information 0

The Migraine Research Foundation just announced their research grants for 2015. Every year, new research is funded through the MRF, and every year new discoveries are made which help migraine sufferers all over the world.

FirstGiving Migraine Research Foundation Page Last year’s research included such cutting edge science as the investigation of calcium channels, especially relevant for those with hemiplegic migraine. Using melatonin as a preventative, genetic studies, unique intranasal medications, and much more.

This year five more grants were given, thanks to people like you who have donated to the MRF. Research includes further investigation into biomarkers that will help develop new treatments, unique abortive treatments and even the relationship of traditional Chinese medicine with migraine treatment.

You can help with research like this, which is making a practical difference to migraine patients around the world! If you’re in the USA, you can give to the MRF here, and get a tax-deductible receipt. If you’re outside the USA, encourage others to give by giving at our MRF community page at FirstGiving.

By the way, the Migraine Research Foundation’s operating costs are already covered, which means 100% of your donation actually goes to migraine research.

Thanks for your help!

6 April 2015

Child Migraine: Time to Fight for Better Treatment

James Discoveries & Stats, Medications 1

We’ve talked in the past about how far behind we are in the field of migraine treatment for children. Far behind where we should be, and far behind where we are in treatment for adults.

A new study sponsored by the Migraine Research Foundation has brought the discussion to the forefront yet again. Child Migraine: Better treatment, please.

The study used Electronic Health Record data to see how 40,000 teens and children with migraine were treated. The news was generally not good.

First, of those who were actually prescribed medication, 15.8% were prescribed an opioid. Considering the wide range of treatments available today, and the many problems with using opioids as treatment for migraine, this number is very high. (Note: This is not to suggest that opioid treatments are never appropriate. Only that the evidence increasingly shows that they should be way down the list of things to try. Prescribing so much of this type of medication indicates that treating children and teens with migraine is many years, even decades, behind where it should be.)

It should be noted that opioids were far more likely to be given in the emergency room. Emergency room health care workers may still not be aware of some of the other options available to quickly treat a severe migraine attack.

Next, only 16.1% were prescribed an “evidence based” medication. Again, we’re talking about medication that has good scientific evidence behind it.

Now at first glance, I’m not quite as worried about this statistic. There are many excellent non-drug treatments for children, including biofeedback and supplements. I would not necessarily want doctors to jump to medication first-thing.

However, if I’m reading the numbers correctly, this actually represents 35% of children and adolescents who were prescribed medication.

In other words, the vast majority were not being prescribed the best medication to fight migraine.

Finally, only 46% were prescribed medication at all.

Again, I’m not necessarily worried that doctors are not going to drugs as the first and best option. However, these numbers and years of experience in this field tell me that a good number of doctors are probably telling patients to “just live with it”, when better options are available.

An interesting side note to the study. The researchers compared treatment in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas, and discovered to their surprise that the doctors in the non-metropolitan areas were doing a better job at prescribing medications with good evidence behind them. So just because you’re in the city doesn’t mean you have better options – that small-town doctor seems to be doing a great job.

It is very difficult for doctors to stay up with the latest research in every area. All right, impossible. This is not an anti-doctor study by any means (and again, there is a lot this study doesn’t tell us).

However, it is a reminder that migraine in children and teens is a serious issue which needs to get more attention. If you’re a doctor, this is certainly something to think about. If you’re a parent, you can focus on your child and take responsibility to make make sure they are getting good treatment.

9 February 2015