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Just What Is A Migraine Headache And Just What Are Its Signs And Symptoms?
One of the commonest migraine symptoms is an acute throbbing pain which is usually situated on one side of the head close to the area of the temple. Unlike normal headaches, migraines are also often accompanied by other symptoms that can include sensitivity to noise and light, queasiness and occasionally vomiting.
Migraines are quite common and affect about 10% of the population of America, or over 28 million Americans. They are also much more often experienced by women rather than men (about 3 times more women suffer from migraine) and can also be found occasionally in children.
Despite the fact that migraine headaches are so common and generally very painful with an attack lasting anywhere from a few hours to several days, only about half of all sufferers consult their physician and the rest choose to suffer in silence.
These headaches had long been thought to be were the result of a of dilation of the blood vessels in the head but, even though there is no general agreement, medical opinion appears to be moving away from this theory in favor of a genetic cause for this problem. It is now believed that the condition are produced by the interaction of certain brain chemicals like serotonin with the nerve cells. At this time however the truth of the matter is that we really do not know what cause migraines.
In fact there are two different forms of the condition, the first of which is called 'classical migraine'and is characterized by an accompanying 'aura'. In this case the term 'aura' refers to visual light effects which are experienced immediately prior to the onset of a headache including things like bright light spots and flashing lights. In a few cases a complete loss of vision can be experienced for a few minutes before the arrival of the headache.
The second form of the condition is a migraine without the 'aura'.
Just as we do not really know what causes a migraine, we also have little idea about exactly what gives rise to an attack, although there are a variety of factors that do appear likely to trigger an attack. For example, getting too much sleep seems to be one factor and so does missing meals or eating certain types of food such as cheese.
Hormones are also thought to influence both the onset and severity of attacks and one piece of evidence for this is the increased incidence of migraines in women. This in part is thought to be because of the effect of estrogen on the blood vessels and some studies have noted that there is a connection between contraceptive pills (containing estrogen) and migraine headaches.
However, just to confuse matters studies have also shown that everyday activities like walking up stairs can trigger an attack, as can exposure to heat or cold, loud noises, flashing lights and even stress.
Fortunately, there are various migraine treatments available, though no single treatment is 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 migraine headaches, then you are best advised to ask your doctor for help in finding an answer which works for you.
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