Chances are you’re either someone who suffers from migraine or knows someone who does – the condition affects around 14.7% of the world’s population, making it more prevalent than diabetes, epilepsy and asthma combined.
In the UK alone, it’s thought there are more than 190,000 migraine attacks every day. However, relatively little is understood about the triggers and treatment for migraine.
With the help of Susan Haydon, Information Manager at Migraine Trust (migrainetrust.org), here we take a closer look at the most common myths:
Myth: Migraine is just a bad headache
Migraine is a complex condition with symptoms varying for each person. The main feature is a one-sided throbbing headache that can last up to 72 hours, with what doctors call features. This can mean nausea, vomiting and an abnormal level of sensitivity to typical levels of sight, sound and smell.
There are two sub-types – migraine without aura, which is the most common, and migraine with aura, which can include visual disturbances, such as blind spots, and affects about 20% of sufferers.
Myth: Men and women of all ages are equally likely to suffer them
During their reproductive years, women are about three times more likely to have migraine attacks than men. Research suggests it’s because of fluctuations in the female hormone oestrogen.
As it is an episodic condition, some people will find they go through a period of continuous improvement and then it returns later in life. But, in general, migraine becomes less severe with age.
Myth: Lifestyle choices won’t affect an attack
There’s no known cause for migraine, apart from being genetically predisposed, but it’s thought it can be triggered by some aspect
of change.
The migrainous brain doesn’t like change as it has a problem processing sensory information.
Triggers can include hunger (not eating enough or not eating regularly), travel, stress – and relaxation after a stressful time –
and too much or too little sleep.
A migrainous brain likes someone to have a nice routine, get up at the same time, have breakfast and go to bed at the same time too, etc.
Myth: Eating chocolate and cheese can help trigger migraine
There’s no evidence for this. It’s very likely that in the early stages of the migraine attack, before the person is aware it has started, symptoms often include a craving to eat chocolate, cheese or starchy food.
It can seem that eating the food has caused the migraine, but it’s the other way around.
Myth: They could actually damage your brain
It might feel like migraine is damaging the brain as the pain is so severe, but research suggests it doesn’t. The problem with migraine is the impact on the sufferer’s quality of life.
If a person is having a lot of migraine attacks, maybe three a month, and taking over-the-counter painkillers every few days, it might cause a condition called medication overuse headache, which is a dull headache that persists most of the time.
In this case, it’s a good idea to visit your doctor to see if the painkillers might be causing the headaches.
Myth: A test will determine whether it is migraine or not
Scans are used to see what’s happening in the brain during a migraine attack for research purposes, but migraine doesn’t show up in a test. If a doctor’s unsure whether it’s migraine or something else which would show up in a test, they might refer that person for
a scan.
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Myth: Bright and flickering light can cause them
People often mention that bright and flickering light can cause migraine, but this is complicated by the fact that if a person is about to have a migraine attack, or the migraine has already started, they might feel the light seems very bright anyway. You can’t always tell the difference between migraine triggers and early symptoms.
Myth: There’s only one type of treatment
There are numerous treatments and two types of medicine – acute medicine, for attacks as they happen, or preventative medicine, if a person has more frequent attacks. Although drugs don’t prevent migraine, the aim is to reduce frequency and severity.
Just recently it was announced that a breakthrough migraine jab, which is the first preventative medicine specifically designed for migraines, has been granted a licence and may be made available on the NHS.
Myth: A cure must be just around the corner
While everyone’s hoping for a cure, it doesn’t seem to be in sight yet.
Migraine is a brain disorder and the brain is very complex. There have been improvements in treatment but sometimes people need to try things in a systematic way to see what works best. It’s often helpful to keep a diary too, which can identify triggers as well
as helping to manage migraine in the most effective way.
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