Why you should avoid migraine triggers

Thursday, 03 November 2011

Experts say a migraine, a debilitating illness that causes severe headaches lasting from four to 72 hours per episode, can sometimes lead to ischemic stroke, induce a host of serious physical conditions, such as aneurysms, permanent visual loss, severe dental problems, coma and even death. Ruth Olurounbi, in this report, examines what tiggers a migraine.

In their published work, Migraines: Myth Vs. Reality, An Understanding of Migraine Disease & Tips for Migraine Management, Michael John Coleman and Terri Miller Burchfield of the National Migraine Association (NMA), debunked the myth that a migraine is just a bad headache, saying instead that “a migraine is a disease, a headache is only a symptom.”

They submitted that “migraine is disease; a headache is only a symptom. Migraine pain is caused by vasodilation in the cranial blood vessels (expansion of the blood vessels), while headache pain is caused by vasoconstriction (narrowing of the blood vessels).

“During a migraine, inflammation of the tissue surrounding the brain, exacerbates the pain. Therefore, medicine often prescribed to treat a headache, such as beta-blockers, dilate the blood vessels and therefore can make a migraine worse.”

Unlike a headache, they said, the migraine has many symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, auras (light spots), sensitivity to light and sound, numbness, difficulty in speech, and severe semi hemispherical head pain. One migraine attack alone can last for eight hours, several days, or even weeks.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/your-health/30621-why-you-should-avoid-migraine-triggers