Introduction and Types of Migraine

Introduction and Types of Migraine

A migraine is moderate to a severe headache lasting up to 1 to 3 days. Migraines affect approximately 12% of adults and children and occur primarily in women. These headaches are often incapacitating and associated with additional side effects such as nausea, autonomic dysfunction, and aura (visual impairment). Migraines are some of the most taxing neurological disorders in the world and a major cause of disability in the world.

Prevent yourself from the below mentioned symptoms and; Click on the links above to know more about the treatments and medications of Migraine and get one step closer towards having a Healthy, Sound and Peaceful Body ?

Migraine Symptoms
Migraine symptoms vary from person to person. Classic symptoms include; throbbing head pain on one side of the head, sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, fatigue, dizziness, and vision changes. People with migraines will often seek quiet dark places to rest as the pain can be quite severe.

Migraines and Auras
There are two main types of migraines: a migraine without aura (MO) and migraine with aura (MA). Patients with migraines with aura experience an assortment of neurological symptoms, usually visual, such as shiny shapes, hallucinations, and seeing black spots. However, the aura can impair other abilities such as sensory, speech, motor skills, eye function and brainstem functioning. Only around 20-30% of migraine sufferers experience MA.

Types of Migraines
In addition to migraines with and without auras, migraines can be further divided into subgroups based on their symptoms or causes. There are five types of migraines:

  • Chronic migraine
  • Retinal Migraines
  • Hemiplegic migraine
  • Probable migraine
  • Menstrual Migraines
  • Chronic Migraines

A chronic migraine occurs frequently or continuously (or more than 15 headache days per month) for at least 3-months. At least 8 of the headaches must be migraines. Approximately 1-5% of people experience a chronic migraine. These cases are usually caused by medication overuse and have much more severe symptoms than episodic migraines (migraine conditions in which the patient experiences less than 15 headache days per month). A chronic migraine is often more debilitating and results in greater need for healthcare, and bouts o depression and anxiety. These migraines are also less responsive to treatments.

Retinal Migraines
Retinal migraines are rare and cause temporary loss of vision associated with a migraine. Vision loss has also been reported during other forms of a headache such as a cluster, idiopathic stabbing, chronic and other headaches. Retinal migraines typically occur in patients in their 20s or 30s. Many patients also have a history of migraines with pronounced auras prior to these retinal migraines. The visual effects of retinal migraines last approximately less than an hour, although longer attacks have been reported. Some cases of retinal migraines can result in long or permanent vision loss.

Hemiplegic Migraine
The rarest and severe MA is a hemiplegic migraine or HM. HM is a prolonged migraine that occurs in conjunction with an aura that impairs motor functioning. Side effects include muscle weakness, numbness, confusion, comas, making coordinated movements and fevers. In some cases, the memory loss and difficulty maintaining attention can be affected for weeks. HM is usually hereditary, although sporadic cases have been reported. Mutated genes include those involved in calcium and sodium channel construction and ion transportation, such as CACNA1A, SCN1A, and ATP1A2.

Probable Migraine
Probable migraines are headaches that meet all the criteria of a migraine except one. This one criterion may be any criteria. These headaches are often considered to be low-grade migraines.

Menstrual Migraines
Menstrual-associated migraines have been reported in more than half of women with migraines without aura. Some women only experience migraines during their premenstrual and menstrual period. These typically start with the first menstrual cycle and are associated with menstrual cramps and premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Typically symptoms improve during pregnancy, however. Migraines are considered menstrual migraines when 90% of them occur during the two days before and the end of menstruation.

Menstrual migraine causes:
These are caused by changes in estrogen between premenstrual and menstrual periods of time. Estrogen declines during the late phase of the menstrual cycle. This decline alters estrogen by regulating multiple neurotransmitters such as serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, and β-endorphins. These neurotransmitters are messengers for pain and can cause nausea.

Menstrual migraine treatments:
Menstrual migraines are typically resistant to most treatments compared to other migraines. There are several options for treatment including, hormonal, non-pharmacological, dietary and psychological.

Key Notes : In patients that rarely experience menstrual migraines, abortive therapies such as Sumatriptan and Dihydroergotamine may be efficient. These treatments work by blocking pain pathways activated by neurotransmitters. Women that experience these migraines more frequently may consider using prophylactic medication during premenstrual phases. Taking NSAIDs a few days before the migraines begin have also been shown to be effective. Barbiturates and narcotics are also helpful; however, they should be used with caution as drug dependence is a significant risk of their use. Treatments that block receptor and neurotransmitter activity may also be effective. These include calcium channel blockers, beta-blockers, serotonin antagonists, antidepressants, re-uptake inhibitors and monoamine oxidase inhibitors. Hormonal treatments such as oral contraceptives containing estradiol with testosterone may help.

Related Reading

Tips for Buying the Best Dog Food

Tips for Buying the Best Dog Food

Most of the dogs do not have a food fuss and may eat almost anything that you feed them. Dogs are not choosy at all when it comes to food and nutrition. Hence, it is important to make sure that the food that you are purchasing for your dog is healthy. The landscape of dog food has been developing by leaps and bounds in recent times. There is a wide variety of options to choose from in the online and offline market. Given the wide range of options that are available today, buying the best dog food might seem to be a confusing task indeed. All the commercial pet food that is available in the market today is regulated by the FDA. Therefore, most of the products do contain nutritious, healthy, and safe ingredients. But it does help to know certain basic factors you should look for while buying food for your dog. Prioritize on the nutritional guarantee The best dog food, which meets the dog’s needs adequately has a statement written on the label of the product, from the Association of American Feed Control Officials. Buy from some of the best dog food brands, such as Fromm Family Foods, Earthborn Holistic, Nature’s Variety Instinct, and The Honest Kitchen.
Different Types of Kitchen Cabinets Available for Your Home

Different Types of Kitchen Cabinets Available for Your Home

The most important aspect when designing your kitchen is deciding on the type of cabinets. In addition to functionality, kitchen cabinets score on aesthetics as well. Once the layout is planned, you can go ahead with choosing the cabinets. If you’re remodeling your home or just the kitchen, what you need to consider are the types of cabinets that furnish your kitchen. Here are a few types of kitchen cabinets that you can choose from. Base cabinets These kitchen cabinets are mounted on the floor and they are placed after checking out the floor plan. A major part of your job in the kitchen is on these base cabinets, which hold and support the countertops. These base cabinets are combined to carve out kitchen islands. A number of base cabinets are fused/set against one another and installed on site. The base cabinets, in addition to supporting the countertops, serve as drawers to hold your cutlery and appliances. Wall cabinets Mounted on the walls, these cabinets can store everything, right from your cookware to cookbooks. In terms of design, they offer utmost flexibility. Wall cabinet kitchen is available in varying heights, multiple widths, and custom depth options. This customization helps you to fit in your stuff of varying shapes and sizes into the wall cabinets.
How to Pick the Right Dog Food for a Sensitive Stomach

How to Pick the Right Dog Food for a Sensitive Stomach

In today’s world, where you are presented with over a dozen choices for every item you would purchase for your own kitchen, it is not surprising that you have an equal number of options for your dog’s food. However, choosing the perfect brand and formula for your dog out of a range of options in the market is not an easy job. Your pet depends on you and trusts you to make the right choice for them. Therefore, it is imperative that you do your research about the products available in the market, understand what your dog needs, know what might be your pet’s problems, and then make a sound decision. What is a sensitive stomach? Dogs are known to have voracious and large appetites. Keeping that in mind, it is normal to assume that they have strong stomachs. They can eat close to anything be it sweets, bakes, chewy gum, hard leather or even woolen socks for that matter! It always so happens that the strongest of them are prone to allergies and can develop a disorder which is medically translated as a sensitive stomach. This might be due to a sudden change in the food habits or even due an infection picked up from somewhere.
All You Need to Know about Cat Food

All You Need to Know about Cat Food

For cat owners, cat food is a hot topic. You need to think about it in different aspects. The best thing is to know which ingredients are good for cat food and which are harmful. If you are aware of this, you can get an idea about the quality of the cat food just by going through the label. It is always sensible to stick to one brand of cat food. However, you may also want to try and prepare cat food yourself. There are also various options for wet cat food as well. Cat’s love for fish is universal, so you can do without going for expensive cat food. Nevertheless, whether you buy it or prepare cat food at home, you need to ensure that the food contains enough nutrition and calories. You would need to have some idea about the ingredients that must be present in cat food and make a worthy selection for your cat. Basic ingredients present in good cat foods Cats need a variety of nutrients to stay healthy and active; they need various vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, and oils. The following is a brief explanation of the basic ingredients that should be present in cat foods.