About Migraine
A migraine is not just a bad headache—It is a chronic and often debilitating neurological disease that affects nearly 12% of the world’s population1. An estimated 30 million Americans suffer from migraines. Symptoms typically include excruciatingly painful headaches, nausea and sensitivity to light and sound. More than half of migraine patients report severe impairment or require bed rest during their episodic attacks. And unfortunately, it is an all too frequent occurrence; the average migraine patient experiences 2 to 4 episodes a month2. Furthermore, women are nearly three times more likely to be affected than men.
The cost of this disease to society is astounding. Migraines are most common during a person’s highly- productive years, between the ages of 15 and 55. The National Headache Foundation estimates that migraines result in 157 million lost workdays each year, with a cost burden of $13 billion to American employers3.
The precise cause of migraine is not completely understood. However, migraines are often initiated by triggers, which may include specific foods, smells, moods, light patterns, hormonal alterations, alcohol or caffeine changes, sleep disturbances and other causes. Migraine is believed to be a disorder in the area of the brain involved with sensory processing modulation4, which causes an abnormal or hyperexcitable response to normal sensory input or triggers. This creates an "electrical storm," which, in turn, causes the migraine. Hyperexcitability of the occipital cortex neurons may also trigger cortical spreading depression or CSD, which is found in migraine with aura5, 6, 7. About a third of migraine sufferers experience these auras or visual disturbances prior to the onset of pain. Numerous brain scans using Positron Emission Topography, or PET scans, have confirmed the presence of CSD in migraine aura.
Migraines are typically treated with prescribed medication and over-the-counter pain killers. Although current treatment options are effective for some, studies have shown that about 70% of migraine patients are not satisfied with current options or cannot tolerate the side effects associated with medications. These patients are actively seeking new, better tolerated treatment options.
1Lipton et al AMPP Neurology 2007
2Lipton et al The Epidemiology of Migraine Am J Med 2005
3National Headache Foundation
4Goadsby PJ et al Migraine – Current Understanding and Treatment N Eng J Med 2002
5Aurora SK et al Am Academy of Neurology 50(4) April 1998
6Aurora SK et al Headache 1999; 39
7Reilly CE, J Neurol 2002; 249
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