Migraine

October 12th, 2006

What are Migraines?
Migraine is a biologically based disorder. Its symptoms are the result of changes in the brain, not a weakness in character or an inappropriate reaction to stress. For many years, scientists believed migraines were linked to the dilation and constriction of blood vessels in the head. They now believe migraine is caused by inherited abnormalities in certain cells in the brain. People with migraine have an enduring predisposition to attacks triggered by a range of factors. Specific, abnormal genes have been identified for some forms of migraine.

……………………………………………

Symptoms:

People who get migraine headaches appear to have special sensitivities to various triggers, such as bright lights, odors, stress, weather changes or certain foods and beverages.If you get a migraine, you may experience an aura 10 to 30 minutes before the attack. An aura may cause the sensation of seeing flashing lights or zigzag lines, or you may temporarily lose vision. Other classic symptoms include speech difficulty, weakness of an arm or leg, tingling of the face or hands and confusion. About 20 percent of migraine victims experience an aura prior to an attack. Even if you don’t have an aura, you may experience a variety of vague symptoms beforehand, including mental fuzziness, mood changes, fatigue and unusual retention of fluids.

The pain of a migraine is described as intense, throbbing or pounding and is felt in the forehead, temple, ear, and jaw, around the eye or over the entire head. It may include nausea and vomiting, and can last a few hours, a day, or even up to three or four days.

Migraines can strike as often as several times a week, or as rarely as once every few years. Some women experience migraines at predictable times–near the time that menstruation begins or every Saturday morning after a stressful workweek.

In addition migraine can take several other forms:

Hemiplegic migraine: Patients with hemiplegic migraine have temporary paralysis on one side of the body, a condition known as hemiplegia. Some people may experience vision problems and vertigo-a feeling that the world is spinning. These symptoms begin 10 to 90 minutes before the onset of headache pain.

Ophthalmoplegic migraine: In ophthalmoplegic migraine, the pain is around the eye and is associated with a droopy eyelid, double vision and other sight problems.

Basilar artery migraine: Basilar artery migraine involves a disturbance of a major brain artery. Preheadache symptoms include vertigo, double vision and poor muscular coordination. This type of migraine occurs primarily in adolescent and young adult women and is often associated with the menstrual cycle.

Status migrainosus: This is a rare and severe type of migraine that can last 72 hours or longer. The pain and nausea are so intense sufferers often must be hospitalized. The use of certain drugs can trigger status migrainosus. Neurologists report that many of their status migrainosus patients were depressed and anxious before they experienced headache attacks.

Headache-free migraine: This type is characterized by such migraine symptoms as visual problems, nausea, vomiting, constipation or diarrhea. Patients, however, do not experience head pain. Headache specialists have suggested that unexplained pain in a particular part of the body, fever and dizziness could also be possible types of headache-free migraine.

Causes:
Because migraine headaches are believed to have a genetic component, it might help your doctor in making a diagnosis to review your family history even if you are not aware that a relative suffered from migraines, consider information you may know about, such as past illnesses and lifestyles. Keep in mind that the term “migraine” was not used much until the 1950s, and even then many migraines were not diagnosed or referred to as “migraines.”

When checking family history, ask these questions:

When growing up, do you recall a family member who was sick much of the time?
If so, did he/she exhibit any of the following symptoms: head pain that interfered with daily activities, nausea or vomiting, sensitivity to light or sound, numbness or speech difficulty?
To what did he or she attribute symptoms of their headache: menstrual cycle, over-work, fatigue, stress or something eaten or drunk?
Be prepared to discuss with your health care professional both the symptoms of relatives’ headaches and their methods for coping.Diagnosing a headache relies on ruling out other problems, such as tumors or strokes. Experts agree that a detailed question-and-answer session with a patient can often produce enough information for a diagnosis. Some women have headaches that fall into an easily recognizable pattern, while others require further testing to determine if symptoms are due to secondary causes such as dental pain, hemorrhage or tumor.You may be asked:
How often do you have headaches?
Where is the pain?
How long do the headaches last?
When did you first develop headaches?

Your sleep habits and family and work situations may also be discussed.

Take a migraine Test

Some Herbal Medicines for Migraine:

1. Betel leaves can be applied with beneficial results over the painful area to releave intense headache.

2. Seeds of bishop’s weed (ajwaine) are useful in the treatment of migraine. They should either be smoked or sniffed frequently to obtain relief.

3. A paste of clove and salt crysrals in the milk is a common household remedy for the headache.

4. Ginger oinment made by rubbing dry ginger with a little water on a grinding stone should be applied to the forehead.

5. Henna (mehndi) flowers cure headachs caused by the heat of the sun.Headache is relieved by a plaster made of henna flowers in vinegar and applied over the forehead.

Mysterious migraine in Ayurveda and Mygraine treatment in Homeopathy

For different kinds Home remedies of migraine visit link 1 and link2 and link3

Sources:http://www.prevention.com/tab/0,7199,s1-1-196-779-0-0—13,00.html