Posted on 10/15/2015 3:35:58 PM PDT by moose07
It can start with flashing lights, a tingling sensation and a feeling of unease, followed by excruciating pain. Migraines can be triggered by lack of food or too much stress but their underlying cause has remained a mystery. Now researchers have found that a migraine may be triggered by a protein deep in the brain that stimulates the neurons controlling facial sensations.
The discovery creates a potential new target for safer migraine medicines and adds weight to the theory that neurons, not blood vessels, are responsible for migraine attacks.
“Where a migraine starts is a key question,” says Debbie Hay at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. “There has been a great deal of debate around the mechanisms of migraine. If we can pin this down, we may have better chances of preventing it.”
To investigate, Simon Akerman at New York University and Peter Goadsby at Kings College London, UK, studied two neuropeptides released by neurons thought to play a role in the pain associated with migraine.
These protein-like molecules, called VIP and PACAP, first raised suspicion after they were found to be elevated in blood drained from the brains of people having a migraine attack. When researchers administered these peptides to volunteers, they found that they could cause a headache or migraine about two hours later.
Both peptides widen blood vessels, which was thought to be significant in migraine. In fact, the only drugs specifically developed for migraine that are in use today – triptans – were designed to shrink blood vessels in the brain. As a result, they cannot be used by people with cardiovascular disorders.
The root of the problem
Akerman and Goadsby studied the effects of VIP and PACAP on a set of neurons that innervate the head and face, which are known to trigger a headache. The pair measured the electrical activity of these neurons in anaesthetised rats and studied blood vessels in the rodents’ brain to identify when they dilated or constricted.
Some rats were then given PACAP, while others were treated with VIP. Only PACAP caused the neurons to increase their activity – about an hour and a half after it was administered. This suggests that the peptide is responsible for kick-starting a migraine, says Akerman.
To block the effect, Akerman and Goadsby used molecules that block the receptors that PACAP binds to. The drugs made no difference when they were given to the rats intravenously, but when they were injected directly into the brain, the neurons responsible for a headache no longer surged with activity. “These receptors could genuinely represent a new therapeutic target for migraine,” says Akerman.
“It appears that these receptors are indeed important, and this is definitely vital to helping us understand migraine and for developing new treatments,” says Hay, who wasn’t involved with the work. “The receptors are a new and exciting target for migraine.”
In need of relief
New therapies are desperately needed. Triptans don’t work for half the people who try them, says Akerman. At any rate, their development was based on a misunderstanding of how migraine works.
In their study, Akermand and Goadsby found that both VIP and PACAP caused blood vessels to dilate, but that this effect only lasted for about 10 minutes. And in the case of PACAP, the widening of blood vessels did not happen at the same time as the overactivity of neurons. In other words, the dilation of blood vessels doesn’t seem to have anything to do with migraine.
Although triptans are prescribed as vasoconstrictors – drugs that shrink blood vessels – other research suggests that they also block the release of peptides like PACAP from neurons. Why this is only effective in half the people who take the drug is still a mystery.
What’s clear, is that vasoconstriction does not help migraine, says Akerman. “Triptans are effective, but for the wrong reasons.”
That’s an impressive mix of chemicals.
Ibuprofen is the only chemical I can safely take that is off prescription.
It eases most of the pain.
Was it a Blood pressure problem?
Same here. I actually split them into thirds and if i take it early enough it keeps it at bay.
I’ve had migraines since childhood. In my forties I read an article that suggested a link to dehydration. So I decided to try to be more hydrated. I never drank very much, just coffee and drinks with meals. After I’d done that for a while I noticed my sense of thirst developed. I didn’t really notice it before. Then I noticed that every time I got a migraine I also had dry cotton mouth. Maybe there was something to this.
Now I know that if I allow myself to get to dehydrated I will get a headache, and I can tell how close I am to getting one by how much liquid I’ve taken in and how thirsty I get. It can still be hard to keep up. But even when I wake up with a headache now, if I drink a lot of water, maybe a liter, and take a couple of Excedrins, it will go away. It never did that before, it lasted all day. I know longer take prescription meds at all. I know that for me it was dehydration all along.
Most people go around partially dehydrated all the time.
Sumatriptan is used to treat migraines. It helps to relieve headache, pain, and other migraine symptoms (including nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light/sound). Prompt treatment helps you return to your normal routine and may decrease your need for other pain medications. Sumatriptan belongs to a class of drugs known as triptans. It affects a certain natural substance (serotonin) that causes narrowing of blood vessels in the brain. It may also relieve pain by affecting certain nerves in the brain. Sumatriptan does not prevent future migraines or lessen how often you get migraine attacks.
The May-June 2014 issue of "American Scientist" had an interesting article about the phenomenon, in which they said research suggested that it came from a genetically derived deficiency in the "release and uptake signaling molecules in the synapses between brain cells" - serotonin and glutamate - which apparently build to an abnormally high level because of the deficiency in the reuptake mechanism until a sort of "flashpoint" is reached, setting off waves of hyper-activity which spread throughout the brain but are apparently mainly in the occipital region in the case of ocular migraines - my own "attacks" which take place probably every couple of months have become more an entertaining nuisance than a worry since I found out that both my eye-doctor his eye-doctor-son experience the same issue and say "there's nothing to be done about it".....
I only take it to deal with a migraine.
It may be, thanks for the ping, but right now I've got a blinding headache and can't absorb any information.
Nothing commercial has ever worked, and only one “home remedy” was worth anything. That’s where a strong friend would hold my head in his/her hands, applying constant lifting pressure for up to two minutes. I relaxed while he was doing this, so he literally was holding my head.
When he finally let go, the headache was gone. I’ve done to same to other people with success, but don’t have that many strong friends, these days.
I don’t know why it works or how; I just know it does.
I’m just reading through this post and am astonished at how many of you suffer from migraines.
I wish you all well.
.
Morning ‘Face.
Blood flow and tension in the neck appear to be responsible for a lot of the symptoms in this thread, but by no means all. :)
You are so right about the dehydration. I’m never thirsty and have to force myself to drink water. That keeps the headaches away.
Another thing that helps when the migraine begins - immediately put your hands in warm water. If you’re out, go to the lav and place them under warm running water. It helps. Somebody told me that putting your feet in warm water helps too. Never tried it.
will check that article out. I have tried and tried, to no avail, to find the trigger for my migraines.
I do get the exact same visual aura, with the very same zig zag lined spot. It almost looks as the the spot or blob is lined with neon. It’s that bright, even with closed eyes.
That normally takes 1/2 hour to subside. I certainly can’t work on the computer when it happens, and during it, I can’t see very well and numbers come out in doubles. the ocular incident normally, but not always, leads to a headache in my case. The headaches are not as horrible as they used to be. I’ve found the whole ocular migraine problem to be something I just have to deal with, and I am not as seriously bothered by them, as I used to be. I am male, and this all started in my early 50s.. 63 now.
No. After finding it worked, I was surprised to see all the internet articles on beta blockers to stop migraines.
Not so much a clinical article but more on descriptions of the phenomenon - most striking to me was the reproduction of someone's impression of how the experience appears in the visual field which pretty well captures mine exactly - the drawing was done in 1902 - this is not something new we're dealing with.....
If you do a Google image search for “migraine aura” you will see dozens of renderings of the aura, some by very good artists. Several of them look almost exactly like mine did.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=migraine.aura&FORM=HDRSC2
It is somehow oddly comforting to know that other people share in such bizarre experiences....
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