The American Academy of Neurology/American Headache Society Guidelines released earlier in April 2012, provide evidence-based and effective treatments that can prevent migraine attacks and lessen their severity.
They state 38% of migraine sufferers require preventive therapy, but just 3% to 13% currently use any preventatives. Some patients are taking preventatives that have never been shown to work. The guidelines show that prevention of migraines requires daily medication.
“If these guidelines are used widely, we will be able to up the odds of reducing headaches by 50 percent…Evidence is building to suggest that if we allow migraines to progress, the frequency of attacks may increase, and they may also become harder to treat.”
The guidelines panel found the following:
• The anti-seizure medications divalproex sodium, sodium valproate, and topiramate, as well as beta blockers metoprolol, propranol, and tumolol, are effective for migraine prevention.
• The herbal preparation Petasites, or butterbur, proved effective in prevention.
• Rated “probably effective” were the following over the counter medicines: the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs fenoprofen, ibuprofen, ketoprofen, naproxen, and naproxen sodium, subcutaneous histamine and complementary treatments magnesium, MIG-99 (feverfew) and riboflavin.
In a post earlier this year I had an infographic on headaches from the Mount Sinai Medical Center. See this post https://blog.teethremoval.com/headache-and-pain-infographic-all-about-headaches/
Source: Mount Sinai Medical Center via Newswise