Zap to the head can stave off migraine
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19560015-29677,00.html
THE debilitating pain of migraines, the splitting headaches suffered by two million Australians, can be eliminated using a hand-held device that "zaps" the condition as it kicks in.
Patients treated with the experimental device, which is held against the back of the head and emits a magnetic pulse, have reported big improvements.
The pulse has been found to trigger an electric current in neurons in the brain, preventing the initial "electrical storm" from developing into a full-blown migraine.
A team of US scientists, based at Ohio State University Medical Centre, were due to present findings from their research overnight at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society in Los Angeles.
In one study carried out by the group, more than two thirds of patients treated with the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation device reported having either no pain or only mild pain two hours after treatment. Less than half of the placebo group reported similar pain levels.
More than 80 per cent did not experience pain when subjected to noise and 64 per cent did not have an adverse reaction to bright light. The majority of the group with the device said they could continue to work with only mild irritation after two hours. Only half of the control group said the same.
The device, which is made by a Californian company called Neuralieve, is designed to interrupt the aura phase of the migraine, the initial period of electrical activity in the brain, before it leads to headaches.
Sufferers of such severe headaches often describe seeing showers of shooting stars, zigzagging lines and flashing lights, and experiencing loss of vision, weakness, tingling or confusion. These initial symptoms are typically followed by an intense throbbing head pain, nausea and vomiting.
About 10 per cent of Australians suffer migraines, which are more than twice as common in women as they are in men, possibly because of hormonal factors. Sufferers experience an average of 13 attacks each year.
THE debilitating pain of migraines, the splitting headaches suffered by two million Australians, can be eliminated using a hand-held device that "zaps" the condition as it kicks in.
Patients treated with the experimental device, which is held against the back of the head and emits a magnetic pulse, have reported big improvements.
The pulse has been found to trigger an electric current in neurons in the brain, preventing the initial "electrical storm" from developing into a full-blown migraine.
A team of US scientists, based at Ohio State University Medical Centre, were due to present findings from their research overnight at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society in Los Angeles.
In one study carried out by the group, more than two thirds of patients treated with the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation device reported having either no pain or only mild pain two hours after treatment. Less than half of the placebo group reported similar pain levels.
More than 80 per cent did not experience pain when subjected to noise and 64 per cent did not have an adverse reaction to bright light. The majority of the group with the device said they could continue to work with only mild irritation after two hours. Only half of the control group said the same.
The device, which is made by a Californian company called Neuralieve, is designed to interrupt the aura phase of the migraine, the initial period of electrical activity in the brain, before it leads to headaches.
Sufferers of such severe headaches often describe seeing showers of shooting stars, zigzagging lines and flashing lights, and experiencing loss of vision, weakness, tingling or confusion. These initial symptoms are typically followed by an intense throbbing head pain, nausea and vomiting.
About 10 per cent of Australians suffer migraines, which are more than twice as common in women as they are in men, possibly because of hormonal factors. Sufferers experience an average of 13 attacks each year.
posted by john raymond baker at 7:16 PM
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