Study Shows Pressure Applied To The Acupoint PC6 Neiguan Using Sea-Band Effective At Controlling Nausea During Migraine

Main Category: Headache / Migraine
Also Included In: Complementary Medicine / Alternative Medicine
Article Date: 27 Jul 2012 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Study Shows Pressure Applied To The Acupoint PC6 Neiguan Using Sea-Band Effective At Controlling Nausea During Migraine

Migraine can be a disabling neurological disorder, often aggravated by accompanying nausea. Stimulation of the acupoint PC6 Neiguan, an approach to controlling nausea adopted by traditional Chinese medicine, has never been documented by published clinical studies in medical literature for the control of migraine-related nausea, until now. Published in a recent Neurological Sciences (journal of the Italian Neurological Society)*, "Acupressure in the control of migraine-associated nausea" is a clinical trial demonstrating that continuous stimulation of the acupoint PC6 Neiguan on the inner wrist, as provided by Sea-Band® wristbands, showed statistically significant improvement in migraine-related nausea versus not using the wristbands.

Previous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of Sea-Band and its continual stimulation of the acupressure point PC6 for nausea relief due to motion sickness, postoperative nausea and chemotherapy-induced nausea. However, this study is the first published research aimed at verifying that pressure applied to the acupoint PC6 with Sea-Band is effective at relieving nausea during migraine.

Migraine affects more than 29.5 million Americans, according to the National Headache Foundation, and is considered by the World Health Organization as the 19th leading cause of all years lived with disability for both males and females. Eight out of every 10 people in the U.S. who are diagnosed with migraine report experiencing nausea.

"This new research supports what millions of Sea-Band users already know; that the acupressure wristbands provide fast, consistent, drug-free relief for nausea associated with migraine headaches," commented Leonard Nihan, president, Sea-Band U.S. "We're pleased to have this published study to reinforce Sea-Band's efficacy to the scientific and medical communities."

The Italian study included 40 female patients suffering from migraine without aura, if nausea was always present as an accompanying symptomatology of their migraine. The patients were treated randomly for a total of six migraine attacks: three with the application of Sea-Band wristbands, which applies continual pressure to the PC6 acupoint (phase SB), and three without it (phase C).

The intensities of nausea at the onset at 30, 60, 120 and 240 minutes were evaluated on a scale from zero to 10. The values were always significantly lower in phase SB than in phase C. Also the number of patients who reported at least a 50 percent reduction in the nausea score was significantly higher in phase SB than in phase C at 30, 60 and 120 minutes. The average nausea scores dropped in the SB phase from 6.36 ± 0.35 in T0, to 4.60 ± 0.39 in T1, to 3.11 ± 0.40 in T2, to 1.88 ± 0.31 in T3 and to 0.92 ± 0.22 in T4. At each time step taken into consideration after the application of the Sea-Band wristbands, there was a statistically significant improvement over the non-treated phases. Moreover, there were a high percentage of responders to the treatment: i.e. 46.8 percent at 60 minutes; 71.8 percent at 120 minutes; 84.3 percent at 240 minutes with a consistent response over time.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our headache / migraine section for the latest news on this subject. *Neurol Sci (2012) 33 (Suppl 1):S207-S210; DOI 10.1007/s10072-012-1069-y; Gianni Allais, Sara Rolando, Ilaria Castagnoli Gabellari, Chiara Burzio, Gisella Airola, Paola Borgogno, Paola Schiapparelli, Rita Allais and Chiara Benedetto. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Women's Headache Center, University of Turin, Turin, Italy. Published in Neurological Sciences, ISSN 1590 – 1872, 5/20/2012, vol 33, suppl 1:207-10.
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Painkillers Can Cause Headaches Warns UK Watchdog

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Main Category: Pain / Anesthetics
Also Included In: Primary Care / General Practice;  Headache / Migraine;  Regulatory Affairs / Drug Approvals
Article Date: 19 Sep 2012 - 3:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Painkillers Can Cause Headaches Warns UK Watchdog

Overuse of common painkillers could be the reason nearly a million people in the UK have headaches, according to the health watchdog.

The warning comes from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), an "arms length" body funded by the government, as it releases its first guideline for doctors in England and Wales on diagnosing and managing headaches in young people and adults.

The watchdog was given the task in 2009, since when it has been conducting a review and consultation.

The NICE panel that carried out the review says "medication overuse headaches" can come from taking aspirin, paracetamol and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs such as ibuprofen) on more than 15 days a month, or opioids, ergots, triptans (a group of specific anti-migraine medicines), or combination analgesic medications on at least 10 days per month.

Professor Martin Underwood, of Warwick Medical School, led the panel. He says people can end up in a "vicious cycle" where their headaches get worse, so they take more painkillers, which make the headaches even worse, and so it continues.

NICE estimates that one in 50 people who suffer from headaches could be doing so because of painkiller overuse.

Manjit Matharu, a consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, told BBC News, medication overuse was a "huge problem" in the population.

He said estimates suggest as many as 1 in 50 people are affected, which is about one million people in the UK having headaches nearly every day because of painkillers.

It is thought that most people trapped in this vicious cycle started out using painkillers to relieve an everyday, tension-type headache or migraine.

Matharu said there was a "tipping point" at 10 to 15 days of using pain relief each month, when normal use turns into overuse.

The new NICE guidelines advise doctors to tell patients who are over-using painkillers to stop taking all painkillers immediately. This will most likely cause a month of suffering headaches with no pain relief, but after that the symptoms should improve.

The watchdog recommends other options for treating headaches, including acupuncture for patients susceptible to migraine and tension headaches.

Underwood says there is good evidence that acupuncture is effective for the prevention of both these types of headache.

Fayyaz Ahmed, a consultant neurologist at Hull Royal Infirmary, and chair of British Association for the Study of Headache, says in a BBC News report on the new NICE guidelines:

"Headache is the most prevalent condition and one in seven of the UK population has migraine. The condition puts an enormous burden on the healthcare resources and the economy in general."

On an NHS Choices website about "painkiller headaches" Ahmed says about 5% of the patients that come to his headache clinic have medication overuse headaches from taking painkillers regularly over a long period.

"Strangely, painkiller headaches only become a problem in people who take painkillers to treat headaches. They don't occur in people who take painkillers for long periods for other painful conditions such as arthritis and back pain," he explains.

Ahmed says most people with medication overuse headaches aren't taking more than the dose recommended on the packet, the problem arises when they take them for long periods, often months on end.

He says some people even take painkillers every day to prevent headaches, which just makes matters worse.

His advice for stopping medication overuse headaches is the same as NICE's: stop taking painkillers.

"Your headaches will probably get worse immediately after stopping, and you may feel sick or sleep badly, but after seven to 10 days when the painkillers are out of your system you'll feel better," he says.

However, if the painkiller headaches are the result of taking drugs containing codeine, then you should see a doctor about how to stop, because stopping abruptly in these cases could be dangerous, according to NHS Choices.

In Ahmed's experience, around three quarters of people with medication overuse headaches manage to stop taking painkillers in one go and feel better as a result.

The other quarter or so experience relapses, and may have to go through several withdrawal periods, he says.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD
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posted by Mike on 19 Sep 2012 at 4:56 am

The article text clearly says that the NICE estimate of people who could be experiencing headaches due to painkiller overuse is only 1 in 50. Therefore this doesn't apply to the other 49 people out of the 50.

Yes I agree that cutting down on painkiller use is probably a good thing, but there's a more than good chance that this isn't the cause of your headaches.

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Migraine Increases Risk Of Depression In Women

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Main Category: Headache / Migraine
Also Included In: Depression
Article Date: 23 Feb 2012 - 12:00 PST Current ratings for:
Migraine Increases Risk Of Depression In Women

Research released today and scheduled to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans, April 21 to April 28, shows that women who have a tendency for migraines or have had them in the past, have a greater risk for developing depression.

The study gathered data on more than 36,000 women, who were all classified as not having depression. They were enrolled in the Women's Health Study and gave information about their history of migraines.

The women were categorized as either having :
Active migraine with auraActive migraine without auraPast history of migraine (but not within the last year)No history of migraine. The women also gave information about diagnoses of depression.

From 36,154, a total of 6,456 had current or past problems with migraines, and during the following 14 years of the study, more than half of them developed depression.

Those that had a history of migraines were nearly twice as likely to develop depression as those that had no history of the affliction. The results did not vary substantially, regardless of the type of migraine. Those with aura, which is described as visual disturbances that appear as flashing lights, zigzag lines or a temporary loss of vision, had the same risks as other types of migraine.

Tobias Kurth, MD, ScD, with Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and Inserm in France and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology said :

"This is one of the first large studies to examine the association between migraine and the development of depression over time ... We hope our findings will encourage doctors to speak to their migraine patients about the risk of depression and potential ways to prevent depression."

It's useful information that patients and doctors alike should be aware of when treating depression.

Written by Rupert Shepherd.
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posted by Veronika on 15 Mar 2012 at 12:50 pm

Wow! I didn't know the fact that migraine increases risk of depression in women. I definitely have a headache once a week but I don't know is it migraine or not! Usually I don't care about it... I have to think and visit a doctor. I don't want to have a depression.
Some days ago I found a blog of one poor thing who is in depression... Not good!

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posted by momo on 23 Feb 2012 at 1:51 pm

Really?
So, feeling like you've been hit on the head with a baseball bat (with no hope of a cure) increases your chances of feeling hopeless and sad?
Yes, oddly enough people with chronic and frequent pain are more likely to not "look on the bright side of life".
.
Seems a no brainer to me. But of course prior to triptains I used to get migraines every other day.
How much money was spent on this research?

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Migraine sufferers are more prone to hangovers

While a headache after a night of drinking for the general public can be quite general, new studies show that hangovers may be more frequently in migraine sufferers. Researchers at the Jefferson headache Center developed a model to study the effects of alcohol on rats who suffer recurrent migraines, compared to rats that do not get headaches. The results, which were presented at Neuroscience 2009, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, in Chicago, are quite fascinating.

Migraine headaches are associated with hypersensitivity to light, sound and light touch on the head and face. The researchers measured rats sensitivity to touch around the eye in four different test groups: two groups received repeated dural simulation to cause headache, followed by an oral ingestion of saline or alcohol (the equivalent of one to two shots of liquor). Two control groups received no inflammatory stimulation, but the same each received oral intake of salt or alcohol.

The rats that received the stimulation followed with alcohol increased pain sensitivity after 4-6 hours, while the control groups had no change in pain sensitivity. The researchers made sure that dehydration and alcohol impurities were excluded as causes of increased sensitivity by hydrating the rats and ensuring the alcohol was free of contaminants.

According to the study leader Dr. Michael Oshinsky, Ph.d., Assistant professor of Neurology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, "the alcohol itself or a metabolite must be causing the hangover-like headache." Dr. Oshinsky ultimately concluded that "these data confirm the clinical observation that people with migraine are more sensitive to alcohol-induced headaches."

For more information about the causes and treatments for Hangover headache symptoms, visit www.headaches.org.

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Headache linked to pollution?

Persons suffering from headache might have a reason to go green living. A recent study from Chile shows that elevated levels of pollution in the air can contribute to headache.

Researchers in Santiago province, Chile studied the effects of various pollution factors including ozone, carbon monoxide, air pollutants and particulate matter associated with gasoline and other fossil fuels, burning on all types of headache. This province in Chile is one of the best places to research this one because of the high population density and its location in a Valley surrounded by mountains, which makes it extremely sensitive to pollution.

Although the authors of the study recommended further studies be performed in different geographic regions to test for consistency in Chile she found that on days of high risk of pollution, headaches severe enough to require hospitalization rose substantially. More specifically, migraine headache most consistently was the kind connected with individual air pollutants, while ozone the most consistently associated with headache in single-pollutant models pollutant was.

"If this Association proves to be causal, the morbidity of headache should be taken during the treasures of the disease burden and the economic costs of air pollution," wrote the authors of the study in September 2009 issue of the American Journal of epidemiology. Based on their findings, they suggest that headache patients stay indoors on days of high pollution.

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4 Gene Loci Discovered That Predispose People To The Most Common Subtype Of Migraine

Main Category: Headache / Migraine
Also Included In: Genetics
Article Date: 12 Jun 2012 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
4 Gene Loci Discovered That Predispose People To The Most Common Subtype Of Migraine

Researchers studied genetic data of more than 11 000 people and found altogether six genes that predispose to migraine without aura. Four of these genes are new and two of them confirm previous findings.

The new genes identified in this study provide further evidence for the hypothesis that dysregulation of molecules important in transmitting signals between brain neurons contribute to migraine. Two of the genes support the hypothesis of a possible role of blood vessels and thus disturbances in blood flow.

The researchers carried out what is known as a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to zoom in on genome variants that could increase susceptibility to migraine; they compared genomes of 4800 migraine patients with more than 7000 non-migraine individuals. The project was performed by the International Headache Genetics Consortium consisting of leading migraine researches from Europe and Australia.

This was the third report on genes predisposing people to common forms of migraine, but the first one on the most common migraine subtype. "The study establishes for the first time a specific gene that contributes to this common disease" said Professor Aarno Palotie at FIMM and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the chair of the International Headache Genetics Consortium.

The carefully studied migraine patients collected from specialized headache clinics were provided a strong basis for the success of this study.

Migraine affects approximately one in six women and one in eight men, making it a leading cause of work absence and short-term incapacity: 25 million school or work days are lost for migraine each year. A US report measures its economic costs as similar to those of diabetes and WHO lists it as one of the top twenty diseases with the causes of years lived with disability (YLDs). In up to one third of migraine patients, the headache phase may be preceded or accompanied by transient neurological disturbances, the so-called aura (i.e. migraine with aura), while the majority of patients suffer from migraine without aura.

"Studies of this kind are possible only through large-scale international collaboration - bringing together the wealth of data with the right expertise and resources. The identified genes open new doors to investigate how this type of migraine comes about," said Dr. Arn van den Maagdenberg, one of the senior authors on the paper.

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The NHS calls on you, our country war veterans, Servicemembers, a free one year membership

To honor America's service men and women, the National Headache Foundation will offer a free one year membership to NHS. Learn more here ... For more information about War Veterans Health Resource initiative, visit our war veterans Education Module To Honor America's service men and women., the National Headache Foundation will give NHS a free one year membership. Learn more here ... For more information about War Veterans Health Resource initiative, visit our war veterans Education Module.

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