What Do We Mean By A Migraine Headache And Just What Are Its Symptoms?

One of the most frequent migraine symptoms is a sharp throbbing pain that is generally situated on one side of the head near to the temple. Migraine headaches are also frequently accompanied by additional symptoms which include sensitivity to noise and light, nausea and occasionally vomiting.

Migraines are quite common and affect about one in ten people in America, or in excess of 28 million Americans. They are also much more often experienced by women rather than men (about three times more women suffer from migraines) and can also be see occasionally in children.

Although migraine headaches are so common and often very painful with attacks lasting anything from a few hours to several days, only roughly 50% of all sufferers ever consult their doctor and the remainder choose to suffer in silence.

Migraine headaches had long been thought to be resulted from a of dilation of the blood vessels in the head but, although there is no general consensus, medical opinion appears to be changing in favor of a genetic cause for this problem. It is now believed that migraines results from the interaction of certain brain chemicals such as serotonin with the nerve cells. Currently however the truth of the matter is that we are really not sure what cause migraines.

In fact there are two different forms of migraine, the first of which is called 'classical migraine'and is characterized by an accompanying 'aura'. In this case 'aura' refers to visual light effects that are experienced immediately before the arrival of a headache including things like flashing lights and bright light spots. In a few cases a complete loss of vision may be experienced for a few minutes before the start of the headache.

The second type of migraine headache is a migraine with no prior symptoms of an 'aura'.

In exactly the same way that we do not know what causes a migraine headache, so too we have little idea about just what triggers an attack, although there are several factors that do seem likely to trigger an attack. For example, getting too much sleep appears to be one factor, as does missing meals or eating particular foods like cheese.

Hormonal factors are also thought to influence both the onset of attacks and their severity and one piece of evidence for this is the increased incidence of migraines in women. This in part is thought to be because estrogen affects the blood vessels and some studies have noted that there is a connection between contraceptive pills (which contains estrogen) and migraines.

However, just to confuse matters studies have also shown that everyday activities such as climbing stairs can trigger a migraine attack, as can exposure to loud noises, cold and heat, flashing lights and occasionally stress.

Luckily, there are a variety of migraine treatments available today, although no one treatment has proved to be really effective in all cases. One thing which we do know though is that over-the-counter medicines are rarely effective and, if you are unlucky enough to suffer from migraines, then you would be best advised to seek the help of your physician in finding an answer that works for you.

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