US Soldiers in Iraq getting migraine…

Now here’s an interesting article for your Friday reading.  Or whatever day you’re reading this.  Apparently American soldiers in Iraq are getting far more migraine attacks than most people.

At first glance you’d think that the trauma of combat would be the cause.  This is one of the suggestions of Drs Erickson and Theeler at the Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis, Washington.  But they suggested a number of theories – in other words, we’re just not sure.

The soldiers not only had more attacks while in Iraq, they also had more migraine attacks in the months after they returned.  Why?  Interestingly, the overwhelming majority in the survey were male; males generally get less migraine attacks than women.

The other thing that was noted in the survey was that many of those that had migraine were not using the standard triptan treatment.  So the question is raised – are they getting the treatment they need?

(Note:  I often see this used as a measure of how well people are being treated – whether or not they’re taking triptans.  It’s true triptans have helped many people, but this can be deceiving.  It doesn’t note whether or not they’ve tried triptans, or if they’ve gotten good treatment in other ways.  Many people have found excellent help without triptans.  This is an interesting measure, but not the only measure.)

In the end, it seems that migraine is a major problem for American military in Iraq, and by extension may be a problem for military posted in various areas from other countries.  The reason why it’s such a problem is unclear.  But as in any vocation, migraine is a serious problem which cannot be ignored.