Headache Disorders

Photophobia is a complex disorder that can involve aversion not simply to bright light but to spatial patterns, colour and flicker.1 It is common in neurological diseases that involve the visual system,2 of which migraine is the most prevalent. Tinted lenses have been widely advocated on the internet as a means of reducing photophobia, particularly in migraine, […]

“Migraine is a common and complex brain disorder that affects 10 million people in the UK, impacting their ability to work, relationships and mental health. It’s poorly understood by the public and even many health professionals, and there are challenges around diagnosis, care and access to the right treatment. ” – Rob Music, CEO, The […]

Neuromodulation is a recent technique that has increasingly been used for the abortive and preventive treatment of migraine and other primary headache disorders.1 It has previously been found to be helpful in the treatment of other neurological illnesses, such as epilepsy.2 Neuromodulation treatment of headache disorders involves pain relief via manipulation of the peripheral or central pain […]

Headache is one of the most common nervous system disorders. In an interview with touchNEUROLOGY, Dr Raquel Gil-Gouveia (Hospital da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal) summarizes the ePoster session she chaired at EAN 2022, ranging from topics such as how COVID-19 has impacted on young people with headaches, the potential of new treatments such as eptinezumab and […]

For a condition as highly prevalent and debilitating as migraine, there is still too little awareness of it and the impact it has. There is little understanding of the different symptoms and stages of a migraine attack, the frequency with which many people have migraine attacks and how this affects different aspects of their lives. […]

Migraine is a common and disabling condition with substantial health and socioeconomic implications. Approximately 1.04 billion people worldwide have migraine disease.1 The condition disproportionately affects women, with 19% of women versus 10% of men reporting a history of migraine.1 Migraine is the second leading cause of years lived with disability across both genders and all ages; further, […]

It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. It lies behind stars and under hills, and empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after, ends life, kills laughter. The Hobbit. JRR Tolkien ‘Darkness’ was the answer to Gollum’s riddle to get out of the tunnel in The Hobbit.1 Darkness is the […]

The limitations of the current treatment of acute migraine are said to be patient variability and migraine attack variability. Prof. Stewart Tepper (Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Centre, Lebanon, NH, USA) discusses the limitations of current treatments for acute migraine and how new treatments overcome these. The abstract entitled ‘Efficacy and Safety of AXS-07 (MoSEIC Meloxicam-Rizatriptan) for the […]

Meloxicam-Rizatriptan (AXS-07) is a novel, oral, rapidly absorbed, multi-mechanistic, investigational medicine which combines meloxicam and rizatriptan for the acute treatment of migraine. Prof. Stewart Tepper (Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Centre, Lebanon, NH, USA) joins us to discuss the phase III MOMENTUM trial aims and design, and the efficacy, safety and tolerability findings of Meloxicam-Rizatriptan for the acute […]

Migraine is a neurologic disease characterized by recurrent attacks of head pain and symptoms such as nausea, photophobia and phonophobia, which last hours to days.1 Attacks themselves can be disabling, and due to the often unpredictable and unavoidable nature of the attacks, the disease itself accounts for substantial disability.2 In fact, migraine affects 12% of the global […]

A university lecturer first experienced headaches during the summer of 1989, when he was aged 26 years. The headache periods initially lasted about 1 day and because the pain was in the trigeminal area both an optometrist and a dentist were consulted. The headaches gradually increased in length, severity and frequency over the ensuing 10 years, typically lasting […]

We had the pleasure of meeting with Robert Music (Chief Executive of The Migraine Trust), to discuss a new report entitled: ‘State of the Migraine Nation, Dismissed for too long’, put together by The Migraine Trust. The report addresses the issues in the diagnosis, treatment and access to specialist care, and recommendations for improving migraine […]

We had the pleasure of meeting with Robert Music (Chief Executive of The Migraine Trust), to discuss a new report entitled: ‘State of the Migraine Nation, Dismissed for too long’, put together by The Migraine Trust. The report addresses the issues in the diagnosis, treatment and access to specialist care, and recommendations for improving migraine […]

Treatment guidelines recommend preventive therapy for migraine, based primarily on the frequency of migraine attacks.1 Migraine-related burden of disease increases with the number of headache days; however, even fewer than 4 headache days per month can result in severe disability in addition to impairment during individual episodes.2,3 The needs of patients with migraine go beyond simply reducing […]

Migraine is one of the most prevalent and disabling diseases worldwide, affecting more than one billion people in 2016.1 It is characterized by recurrent headache attacks with nausea/vomiting, photophobia and phonophobia.2 Currently, the first line of acute treatment of migraine is pharmacological; however, pharmacological approaches may be ineffective, poorly tolerated, and need to be limited in use […]

In 2018, the Global Burden of Disease study placed headache disorders as the second leading cause of years lived with disability.1 As another indicator of its burden, headache was ranked among the leading causes of years lived with disability.1 Given its prevalence and severe symptom burden, headache has a consequential negative impact on the quality of life […]

We had the great pleasure of meeting with Dr. Serena Orr (Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada) to discuss the relationship between peak pain severity in chronic migraine, and its relationship to stress. The abstract ‘The Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Peak Pain Severity in Individuals with Chronic Migraine: A Longitudinal Cohort Study […]

It was a great pleasure to meet with Jessica Ailani (MedStar Georgetown, Georgetown University Hospital, Pasquerilla Healthcare Center, Washington, WA, USA) to discuss the impact of galcanezumab on migraine care in the phase 3b CONQUER trial. The abstract entitled: ‘Total pain burden in patients with treatment-resistant migraine: effects of galcanezumab in the CONQUER Phase 3b […]