Migraines

For 2 years, Jim suffered the excruciating pain of cluster headaches. Night after night he paced the floor, the pain driving him to constant motion. He was only 48 years old when the clusters forced him to quit his job as a systems analyst. One year later, his headaches are controlled. The credit for Jim's recovery belongs to the medical staff of a headache clinic. Physicians there applied the latest research findings on headache, and prescribed for Jim a combination of new drugs.

Joan was a victim of frequent migraine. Her headaches lasted 2 days. Nauseous and weak, she stayed in the dark until each attack was over. Today, although migraine still interferes with her life, she has fewer attacks and less severe headaches than before. A specialist prescribed an antimigraine program for Joan that included improved drug therapy, a new diet and relaxation training.

An avid reader, Peggy couldn't put down the new mystery thriller. After 4 hours of reading slumped in bed, she knew she had overdone it. Her tensed head and neck muscles felt as if they were being squeezed between two giant hands. But for Peggy, the muscle-contraction headache and neck pain were soon relieved by a hot shower and aspirin.

Understanding why headaches occur and improving headache treatment are among the research goals of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). As the leading supporter of brain research in the Federal Government, the NINDS also supports and conducts studies to improve the diagnosis of headaches and to find ways to prevent them.

For more information, visit ninds.nih.gov

The Universal Disorder

You know it at once. It may be the fiery sensation of a burn moments after your finger touches the stove. Or it's a dull ache above your brow after a day of stress and tension. Or you may recognize it as a sharp pierce in your back after you lift something heavy.

It is pain. In its most benign form, it warns us that something isn't quite right, that we should take medicine or see a doctor. At its worst, however, pain robs us of our productivity, our well-being, and, for many of us suffering from extended illness, our very lives. Pain is a complex perception that differs enormously among individual patients, even those who appear to have identical injuries or illnesses.

In 1931, the French medical missionary Dr. Albert Schweitzer wrote, "Pain is a more terrible lord of mankind than even death itself." Today, pain has become the universal disorder, a serious and costly public health issue, and a challenge for family, friends, and health care providers who must give support to the individual suffering from the physical as well as the emotional consequences of pain.

For more information, visit ninds.nih.gov

Patients educate patients to control migraine

When migraine patients trained other migraine patients how to prevent migraine headaches, attacks declined and both trainers and trainees gained a greater sense of control over their attacks, researchers report.

Patient-trainers provide credible and recognizable disease-specific knowledge, Dr. Jan Passchier told Reuters Health. "Trainees appreciated the trainers' emotional and motivational assistance."

Moreover, trainers themselves benefited "in terms of large headache improvements and improved quality of life," noted Passchier, of Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Passchier and colleagues evaluated the effects of migraine sufferers providing other migraine sufferers with home-based behavior training. Both trainers and trainees were under medical care for relatively frequent migraine (1 to 6 times per month), with or without aura, but had no underlying associated disease, the investigators explain in the journal Cephalalgia.

For more information, visit mymigraineconnection.com

Tame Tension Headaches

Tension headaches are often triggered by stress or anxiety, causing pain and muscle tension in the head and neck.

Here are suggestions to help keep tension headaches at bay, courtesy of the U.S. National
Library of Medicine:

Help control stress and anxiety with exercise, meditation, yoga or other stress-relieving methods.

Get plenty of sleep each night.

If you have muscle soreness in the upper back, neck or head, gently massage the muscles in these areas.

Know what causes headaches for you, and try to prevent the condition. For example, if cold temperatures tend to cause your headaches, try to keep warm.

Try sleeping with a different pillow, or sleeping in a different position.

Maintain good posture. Exercise the neck and shoulders often, especially when typing, reading or working at a computer.

For more information, visit Mymigraineconnection.com

Headache common in people with GI trouble

The prevalence of headache is higher in people with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms such as nausea, acid reflux, diarrhea, and constipation, than in people who don't have these bothersome symptoms, new research indicates.

Both headaches and GI symptoms are common in the general population and eat up substantial healthcare dollars, note the researchers.

To investigate, Dr. Anne Hege Aamodt and associates from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, reviewed questionnaires completed by 43,732 participants in the Nord-Trondelag Health Study, including information on GI symptoms as well as headache.

After adjusting for gender, age, depression, anxiety and other factors that might influence the results, the research team noted a significantly higher prevalence of headache among participants with reflux, diarrhea, constipation, and nausea, compared to those without such complaints.

These results have implications for the treatment of headache patients.

For more information, visit Mymigraineconnection.com

Famous Migraineurs - Terrell Davis

Migraine disease affects nearly 36 million people in the United States. It does not discriminate by age, race, or social status. You may be a third-grade teacher, firefighter, stay-at-home mom, construction worker, someone's favorite grandma or grandpa, secretary, or an NFL star but still have one thing in common: Migraine disease.Terrell Davis is one such famous Migraineur. Born in San Diego, California, on October 28, 1972, Davis began his love of football when he played for a local Pop Warner league at seven years old. Unfortunately that's when his Migraine attacks started too. He continued to play football through high school, excelling at many different positions. Davis received a scholarship from University California at Long Beach for a year, then transferred to University of Georgia, when the football program was eliminated at Long Beach.

The Denver Broncos picked him in the sixth round and he went on to be one of the best playoff running backs in NFL history.Davis hasn't let Migraines stop him. During the first quarter of Super Bowl XXXII, playing for the Denver Broncos, he was hit hard and left the field with a towel draped over his head. The Migraine that was developing made the sunlight exceedingly hard to tolerate, and Davis missed the second quarter. He used an ergotamine Migraine abortive, and was back in the game for the second half. In fact, he scored three touchdowns -- including the winning one -- and the Broncos went on to win the Super Bowl! Davis was named Most Valuable Player.When famous Migraineurs share this part of their lives they legitimatized Migraine disease. As if to say "If Terrell Davis was sidelined by a Migraine, then they really must be bad!" Being in the public eye allows NFL players, actors or politicians to bring much needed attention to Migraine disease and its lack of effective treatments, research funding, understanding, and compassion.

For more information, visit mymigraineconnection.com

Sinus Buster Hot Pepper Nasal Spray Recognized As Effective Migraine Headache Treatment

Over 23 Million Americans suffer from chronic Migraine headaches. A classic migraine is characterized by extreme throbbing pain accompanied by dizziness, blurred vision and vomiting.

Some migraine headaches can last for days or even weeks at a time. Although there are pharmaceutically prepared medicines designed to combat migraines, an all natural nasal spray made with Cayenne peppers, Feverfew extract and Peppermint oil is fast becoming recognized as an important migraine treatment.

Sold under the brand name Sinus Buster, this new hot pepper migraine nasal spray has been garnering lots of media attention from medical reporters around the country. Sinus Buster was recently featured by CBS3 in Philadelphia on their popular Health Alert segment hosted by medical reporter, Stephanie Stahl.

In the report, Ms. Stahl interviewed Dr. William Young, a researcher at the Thomas Jefferson University Headache Center in Philadelphia. Dr. Young said he regularly recommends Sinus Buster to migraine patients and he agrees that Capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot peppers can be highly effective against headaches. Dr. Young also points out that Peppermint Oil, a main ingredient in Sinus Buster's headache formula has been shown to diminish pain through intranasal application.

According to Wayne Perry, a long time headache sufferer and the inventor of Sinus Buster, his unique product is destined to become a household name.

For more information, visit sinusbuster.com