I’ve neglected news lately and haven’t shared a lot of good stuff with you. I’m catching up over the holiday weekend.
Good news for most migraine sufferers: With age, you can expect to get fewer, less- painful migraine attacks that don’t last as long, a new study from Sweden suggests.
“It does seem that in most people migraine is not a progressive disease,” says Carl Dahlof, M.D., Ph.D. . . .
Poorer teenagers may be more likely to suffer from migraine headaches than richer teens.
Genetics play a big part in determining the risk of developing painful migraine headaches, but a new study suggests that family income may also play a role in migraine risk.
Researchers say psychiatric factors — such as depression, anxiety, and substance abuse — were not examined in this study and may help explain the results. . . .
“Our study also suggests that we should explore environmental risk factors, such as stressful events and nutrition, as they relate to low income and migraine to understand how we might reduce the occurrence of migraine among these individuals,” says Bigal.
Also: If No Genetic Link, Family Income Affects Migraine Risk (MedPage Today)
[A]re children feeling the same levels of pain as adults, or are they simply reacting to it in the same way?
Dr. Pakalnis has launched a study to find out just how much is learned. She’s noticed that when talking to adults and kids separately, there is a difference. Kids tend to report less pain and disability, but the adults…
“They tend to over-report their child’s perception of pain from their migraine headaches compared to parents or guardians that don’t have a chronic pain problem,” says Dr. Pakalnis.
In other words, parents who have migraines might be projecting their pain onto their kids. That could lead to unnecessary treatment or excessive medication. It’s important to understand that no one doubts these kids suffer from migraines. But doctors say if they can better understand their individual level of pain, they can develop individual treatments that are best for them.
I’m not certain that I agree with Dr. Dahlof’s conclusions that migraine is not a progressive disorder. I think all that one can conclude from his findings is that migraine need not be a progressive disorder as long as it is aggressively treated with preventative agents.
I also think more studies are needed. This only addresses the Swedish population he treats, and we cannot assume that that is generalizable to all migraineurs the world around.
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Great points. Thanks!
Kerrie
I found the study about perception of pain in children of chronic pain sufferers very interesting, particularly because so many people in my family have migraines. In my own situation, I started having migraines at age 6, and my parents did not know that was what they were until doctors ruled out other possibilities, such as a tumor. They did not realize a person could have migraines at such a young age. People are probably more aware of that now, but maybe not.
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I think the knowledge of kids with migraine is growing slowly. Way too slowly, but there’s definitely been progress.
Adults with migraine need to be more aware of the genetic connection so they can watch for symptoms in their kids, nieces and nephews, etc.
Pediatricians have a big responsibility too. That goes back to the problem of too little headache/migraine education in med school.
Kerrie