Migraine: causes and treatment
Migraine may be a chronic neurological disease; characterized by repeated excruciating attacks of intense headache and autonomic disturbances. Significantly worsens the standard of life, while never causing life-threatening conditions. it's characteristic of a limited lifetime of 40 ± 10 years. As a rule, migraine attacks stop by the age of 40-60.
The disease is diagnosed in every 10th inhabitant of the earth , among patients there are 3-4 times more women than men. The frequency of attacks - from recurring daily to many times a year; in practice - more often 2-3 times a month. During an attack, an individual is disabled.
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| Migraine: symptoms, types, causes and treatment. |
Causes of occurrence
The pathogenesis of the disease isn't fully understood. Often migraine develops against the background of anomalies of the central systema nervosum , dystonia of cerebral vessels, sleep or metabolic disorders, endocrine imbalance. Also, the disease can occur thanks to burdened heredity: if both the mother and therefore the father suffer from migraine, then it'll develop during a child with a probability of 60%.
The risk groups for the event of the disease include:
• residents of megacities during a state of chronic stress;
• easily excitable, emotional, people susceptible to depressive states;
• careerists, ambitious individuals;
• patients with diabetes;
• smokers.
An attack are often provoked by:
• acute stress;
• meteorological factors;
• premenstrual syndrome;
• intense physical activity, overwork;
• taking certain medications, especially oral contraceptives;
• aggressive external factors - excessively bright light and loud noise;
• pregnancy, especially complicated;
• sleep disturbance.
Trigger - trigger - factors:
• certain odorous substances;
• tight-fitting hats, tight braids and tails;
• curvature of the spine when working while sitting;
• skipping meals;
• excessive consumption of foods - sources of caffeine;
• red wines, sausages, hard cheeses, carbonated drinks;
• long trips and changing time zones.
Symptoms
Before a migraine attack, characteristic signs may appear:
• feeling of groundless anxiety;
• excessive irritability;
• depressive conditions;
• decrease in performance;
• drowsiness;
• malaise;
• dizziness;
• discomfort from relatively loud sounds, bright light and powerful odors;
• yawn.
Types of migraines and their symptoms
There are two main sorts of migraines - classical and with aura. Aura may be a precursor phase that appears 10-30 minutes before the onset of an attack. It manifests itself:
• flashes of sunshine before the eyes - "flashing flies";
• obsessive odors;
• slowed down speech;
• sound phenomena;
• loss of sensitivity of certain areas of the body and weakness within the limbs.
Symptoms of a classic migraine:
• severe headache from several hours to many days (if you are doing not take the medicine);
• phobia and sound, tactile intolerance to touch;
• nausea and vomiting;
• increased pain during mental and physical activity.
Sometimes there's a migraine without a headache - ophthalmic or vestibular. With her, pain occurs within the eye area. additionally , vision is impaired (sometimes in one eye), dizziness appears. Concomitant symptoms are almost like those of a classic migraine, but less intense.
Features of migraine headache
Where it hurts and the way to inform
Most often, a migraine attack begins within the morning or in the dark , but can appear at the other time. an individual begins to painfully hurt the left or right half (less often - the entire head), within the temporal or ocular region. The pain is pulsating initially , then - squeezing or bursting.
It intensifies from external stimuli - loud sounds, harsh odors, bright light. Often amid lacrimation from one eye. On the side of pain, the palpebral fissure narrows, sometimes pulsation of the cerebral artery is noticeable.
Visual anomalies characteristic of migraine are luminous circles, double outlines of surrounding objects. Sometimes the sector of view seems to drop out. The attack often ends with an extended , hard sleep. In women and men, the disease manifests itself within the same way.
In children
As a rule, migraine develops in children with a hypersensitive systema nervosum . More often, an easy sort of the disease is diagnosed with a headache within the frontal region, attacks of nausea and vomiting.
Less often, children have a sophisticated migraine - with drooping of the eyelid and impaired movement of the eyeballs. The rare complicated hemiplegic migraine is characterized by unilateral weakness of the limb muscles.
Diagnostics
The diagnosis is formed by clinical signs - monotonous seizures with precursors, heredity, periodicity. Also take under consideration the characteristic disorders of smell, vision, hearing and, taste, numbness of the hands, face and autonomic disorders - nausea, vomiting, frequent urination, loose stools.
According to the indications, differential diagnostic studies are prescribed:
• X-ray of the skull - an enlarged venous pattern is seen on it;
• duplex scanning of the vessels of the head;
• functional studies of the vestibular apparatus;
• ophthalmoscopy - reveals characteristic changes within the fundus;
• MRI of the brain;
• genetic counseling.
Treatment
Migraine headaches are often not relieved by standard anesthetic drugs, but only by specific ones - for instance , from the group of triptans. they will only be prescribed by a neurologist , and pharmacies are available with a prescription.
If you discover yourself showing signs of a migraine, see your doctor and he will determine the foremost effective individual tactics.
The specialist selects the drug and therefore the dose personally. Therapeutic and prophylactic tactics for migraines are different at different stages of the condition, therefore self-medication is unacceptable.
Additional treatments are physiotherapy and acupuncture . it's also necessary to figure with a psychologist aimed toward overcoming chronic stress and depressive conditions.
Patients within the group are advised to stay a headache diary - with its help, they learn to spot individual trigger factors and precursor symptoms. This helps to visibly reduce the frequency of attacks and even prevent them without medication. Behavioral therapy is additionally indicated.
Emergency migraine relief
How to relieve an attack yourself?
Sweet tea is suggested when precursor symptoms appear: a rise in blood glucose can prevent an attack. some extent self-massage of the occiput and neck is additionally effective - repeated pressure with fingertips on the region of the bulge and carotid arteries.
The technique can delay the attack by 1 to 2 hours - for instance , while the pill prescribed by the doctor works. Well-being is improved by:
• mustard plaster applied to the neck;
• sedative herbal remedies and herbal teas;
• hot shower;
• a hot pad applied to the feet or a warm foot bath.
During an attack, it's recommended to be during a darkened room, inaccessible to strong smells and sounds, and check out to nod off . an honest 2–3 hours of sleep can often help relieve migraines.
Drug-free prophylaxis
To prevent the danger of migraines, doctors recommend avoiding chronic stress, mental fatigue, and head injuries. it's important to exercise regularly, be within the fresh air each day and sleep a minimum of 7-8 hours a day.
In addition, control and, if necessary, correction of vital sign is shown, also because the treatment of concomitant diseases. Red wine, hard cheeses, caffeinated drinks, chocolate, pickles, smoked meats are excluded from the diet.
Without qualified treatment, migraines can develop complications - neuroses, psychosomatic diseases, depression. A background headache that doesn't respond well to treatment can also join.
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