Migraines: Cause, Treatment and Prevention (part 1)

Other than colds, headaches are probably the most common human ailment.  They are usually a passing annoyance, but as many as 45 million people suffer from chronic and/or severe headaches that interfere with their lives.  There are various types of headaches with much overlap.  This overlap is due to the fact that headaches are still not completely understood by scientists.  The following information will present information on one type of headache...migraines.  I will educate you on what they are, how to treat them and most importantly how to prevent them!

Symptoms:

Migraine sufferers are often female and present with a complaint of one sided throbbing headache that is occasionally (10-15% of the time) preceded by aura.  An aura consists of visual disturbances including blind spots and flashing lights or neurological change including numbness and/or tingling in an area of the body.  This aura can last for about 30 minutes followed by an incapacitating headache that lasts from several hours to days.

The other 85-90% of migraine sufferers do not experience the aura.  They still have a debilitating headache, but the person is usually able to continue their daily lives.  Migraine sufferers will seek dark, quiet environments.  There can be associated nausea and vomiting and often there is a fa

mily history of migraines.  The headaches are commonly triggered by foods (chocolate, caffeine, wine, additives etc.), lack of sleep, environmental pollutants and medications.

Causes:

There is still a lot of uncertainty as to the exact cause of migraine headaches.  The following represent some of the theories.  One theory centres on a disorder of the central nervous system (CNS)(CNS = Brain and spinal cord).  A trigger (as stated above) overly excites a nerve called the trigeminal nerve.

This nerve is responsible for the sensation of the face and head.  This over excitation causes a release of proteins that cause a dilation of the blood vessels in the head and result in an inflammatory response.  This inflammation spreads to the meninges (the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord).  Unlike the brain itself, the meninges are sensitive to pain.  This reaction then reaches the cortex (outer layer) of the brain and reduces blood flow (known as "spreading depression").  Some regions of the decreased blood flow results in the aforementioned auras.

Another theory is that there are abnormalities with the flow of calcium ions between cells.  The calcium ion is responsible for the release of a substance called serotonin.  Serotonin is involed in pain perception and mood.  Interestingly, the receptors for serotonin particles are on the trigeminal nerve.  The serotonin normally acts to block the proteins that overstimulate and produce inflammation.  If there is not enough calcium and therefore not enough serotonin, the nerve becomes over stimulated.

In Summary:

An abnormality in the calcium channel results in decreased calcium flow which further results in a decreased release of serotonin.  Without serotonin the trigeminal nerve is not blocked from releasing the proteins responsible for inflammation and blood vessel dilation.  The reaction spreads to the brain meninges resulting in aura and pain.

Part 2: Drug Free Treatment and Prevention (click link)