Headache is a prevalent condition that most of you must be experiencing in your routine with different frequencies and intensities. But all headaches are not migraine headaches; there are many types of headaches occurring due to various reasons, and one of the widespread headaches is migraine headaches. The migraine symptoms are more severe and intense compared to other headaches. According to research by Migraine Research Foundation, about 9 million people in the United States suffer from migraines, which is considered the third most common disorder spread worldwide.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, migraine is a neurological disorder with different symptoms which can be tracked down to inheritable genes responsible for regulating a certain group of brain cells, blood vessels, and nerves of the brain. Thus, the meaning of migraine can be understood as a heritable disease. Generally, migraines are classified as episodic migraine and chronic migraine, having differences mostly in their frequencies.
Episodic Migraines
In this type of migraine, a patient usually experiences less than 14 headaches a month over a time period of three months. However, it is not necessary that in order to count the headache, it has to be a severe headache or migraine headache. It has been found that around 2.5 to 4.6% of episodic migraine patients show advancement toward chronic migraine in a year.
A doctor cannot diagnose migraine based on any specific diagnostic test, so a doctor asks you for migraine symptoms. Migraine headaches are generally felt on a single side of the head, i.e., it is unilateral. First of all, a doctor takes the history of your pain, and if you have the below-mentioned history, you will be diagnosed with episodic migraine:
- Headache episodes are lasting for 4 to 24 hours
- You are having migraine headaches for less than 15 days a month
- You have had at least five migraine attacks in your lifetime.
Many a time, these attacks are accompanied with:
- Sensitivity to light
- Sensitivity to noise
- Vomiting
- Nausea
The triggering factors for episodic migraine are:
- Menstruation
- Stress
- Climate changes
Some other reasons may also be responsible, like particular medicine triggering the pain, any brain injury, or maybe any disorder in the eye. Hence a doctor takes your holistic medical history to know the root migraine cause and reach the correct diagnosis to be able to offer treatment accordingly.
Chronic Migraine
In this type of migraine, a patient has 15 or more headaches a month over a time period of three months. Also, at least eight or more are migraine headaches, and it can be assured that it is not due to extensive medications. As in chronic migraine, a patient suffers from a large number of migraine headaches in a month; this type of migraine can extremely affect one's routine and cause disability.
In fact, chronic migraine causes unemployment in many cases as the patient is not able to go to work due to frequent attacks. Moreover, many researchers have said that chronic migraine patients commonly suffer from anxiety, depression, heart issues, respiratory disorders, and chronic pains.
In order to diagnose you with chronic migraine, your doctor will take the history of your headache, and if you have the following history, you will be confirmed for chronic migraine:
- Headache attacks are lasting for more than 24 hours
- You are experiencing migraine headaches for 15 or more days each month for a span of three months
- And having the symptoms of migraine for a minimum of eight days from those days a month.
From the study conducted in Current Pain and Headache Reports, many researchers have understood the meaning of migraine and concluded that chronic migraine patients have an episode that lasts for an average of 65.1 hours if a patient is not taking any treatment and with the treatment, the episode lasts for an average of 24.1 hours. This is very high when compared to episodic migraine, as an episode of episodic migraine lasts for an average of 38.8 hours without taking any treatment, and with treatment, it lasts for 12.8 hours.
Prevalence of Episodic and Chronic Migraines
The following points will explain the prevalence of both conditions:
- It has been found that episodic migraine is more prevalent as compared to chronic migraine symptoms.
- As per the American Migraine Foundation, around 12% of Americans are suffering from migraine, and chronic migraine accounts for 3 to 5% of cases.
- According to the Migraine Research Foundation, migraine is more common among women, which is about 18 percent of cases, as compared to men, which is about 6 percent of cases.
- It has also been found that the occurrence of migraine is also linked to ethnicity and race of people. This can be associated with health equities, socioeconomic factors, and some other varying factors that cause stress and anxiety.
- According to a study conducted in 2021, chronic migraine is more common among the black and African American crowd, people with lesser family income, and the Latinx crowd.
- Later after regulating various variables in the same research, it is found that only family income is responsible for the prevalence of chronic migraine.
- Hormonal changes in women are responsible for the occurrence of migraine. That is why women in their 40s usually suffer from chronic migraine. According to the National Headache Foundation, 60% of ladies suffer from migraine attacks during their menstrual cycle.
Some of the other variables that are responsible for a higher incidence of chronic migraine are anxiety, obesity, medication overdose, and depression.
Also Read:- Headache Classification, Types, Causes, Home Remedies
Treatment of Migraine
Treatment alternatives for episodic migraine are as follows:
- Sometimes doctors may advise OTC medications for the cure of episodic migraine.
- However, based on the severity and frequency of the attack, the doctor even prescribes specific medicines.
- Preventive medications are also prescribed in some cases. These preventive medications are useful in reducing the episodes of episodic migraine and thus give some relief to the patient.
Treatment for chronic migraine are as follows:
- OTC medicines help in curing the current migraine attack.
- Prescribed medicines by doctors are also helpful in treating chronic migraine.
- Prophylactic medicines also work well. These help in preventing migraine attacks.
Some of the medicines that are helpful in the treatment of migraine and lessening the intensity, frequency, and time span of each attack are antiseizure drugs, some cardiovascular drugs, onabotulinumtoxin A, antidepressants, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Conclusion
According to a research team in New York, it has been found that chronic migraine patients suffer maximum from non-headache problems in comparison with episodic migraine patients. The non-headache-related problems include disability among patients, not being able to go to work, and ultimately resulting in higher rates of unemployment. Chronic migraine patients also have higher chances of experiencing depression, anxiety, and higher incidences of respiratory and heart disorders. Thus, it becomes important to understand the meaning of migraine so that whenever you experience frequent headaches, you will immediately consult your doctor to get it diagnosed at the earliest and get treated accordingly. This will save you from affecting your daily life due to migraine.
Agilus Diagnostics, a subsidiary of Fortis Healthcare Limited
