Month: December 2007

Heart Procedure to Help Headaches?

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Earlier studies have indicated that there may be a link between a particular congenital heart anomaly, a patent foramen ovale (PFO), and migraine. Some patients – particularly those suffering from migraine with aura- have had reductions in the frequency and severity of migraines following closure of their PFO. In the Rush study, interventional cardiologists will close the PFO in the catheterization lab using an implant that acts like an umbrella, crossing over the chambers in attempt to occlude or close the flaps together.Principal investigator Dr. Clifford Kavinsky and his team have started enrolling patients for the clinical trial, called MIST II (Migraine Intervention with BioSTAR). The team is looking for individuals with severe migraines to see if they may have a patent foramen ovale. A PFO is a small opening between two overlapping sections of tissue which form a division … Read more

Help Your Doctor Help You

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Jot down your history. If you’re suffering form an ongoing problem – such as chronic pain – make a thorough record of the events that led to your problem, as well as any therapies or medications you have tried to treat it. Describe the problem. Write a detailed description. For example, if you have a severe pain in your back, record the exact location: indicate the intensity on a scale of zero to ten; describe the sensation – aching, sharp or tingling – and note anything that makes it worse or better. Take along your medications. Take any pills, creams, vitamins or herbal medicines you currently use. Include all medications – not just those you think are relevant. It’s important for the doctor to see which brands you are taking, and the doses. Take X-rays and scans. If you have … Read more

Are there Brain Differences in People who suffer from Migraines?

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A new study found that people with migraines have differences in an area of the brain that helps process sensory information, including pain.  The cortex area of the brain is thicker in people with migraine than in people who do not have the neurological disorder. Comparing 24 people with migraine to 12 people without migraine, the study found that the somatosensory cortex area of the brain was an average of 21 percent thicker in those with migraine. “Repeated migraine attacks may lead to, or be the result of, these structural changes in the brain,” said study author Nouchine Hadjikhani, MD, of The Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “Most of these people had been suffering from migraines since childhood, so the long-term overstimulation of the sensory fields in the cortex could explain these changes. It’s also … Read more

Melatonin

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Dr. Rozen at the Michigan Head Pain and Neurological Insitute  reccommended that I take 3 mg of melatonin for a few days and then increase this to 6 mg. You can buy melatonin at any pharmacy like walgreens or CVS. I have been taking it at bedtime for the past couple of nights 20 minutes before bed.  If you live in Australia or the European Union you are going to need a prescription.It has been very helpful in helping me get to sleep. For the past few nights I have fallen asleep within 30 minutes where as before it was taking me between an hour and 2 hours to fall asleep. Melatonin is intimately involved in synchronizing the body’s hormone secretions, setting the brain’s internal clock and generating circadian rhythms (daily biorhythms). These patterns govern the release of hormones that … Read more

Magnesium Oxide

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I recently started taking magnesium oxide specifically 400 mg of Mag Ox (1 tablet) twice daily. You can purchase Mag Ox at http://www.magox.com/ Many people have a magnesium defiency and taking a multivitamin isn’t enough. Magnesium is an essential mineral needed by every cell in your body. Magnesium helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, helps keep heart rhythm steady, helps maintain normal blood pressure and bone strength, and aids in the absorption of calcium and potassium. If you are struggling with nerve damage taking magnesium might be beneficial. This is because Magnesium is an NMDA antagonist which may aid in reducing neuropathic pain. To read a case report written by several medical doctors visit http://www.anesthesia-analgesia.org/cgi/reprint/96/5/1413.pdf