Migraine really is a brand-name that covers a whole lot of different severe and recurring headaches. This is why it is so important to get the right diagnosis and the right treatment.
Case in point - occipital neuralgia is not exactly a migraine even though it might feel like one. "It's usually straightforward to determine who may be a candidate for nerve decompression – all one has to do is touch the area and watch the patient's response."
Dr. Pamela Blake, (former) Director of Georgetown's Headache Clinic and Dr. Ducic, Chief of Peripheral Nerve Surgery, have developed a "nerve decompression" technique for such patients. Pretty simple from a surgical standpoint procedure opens up the space or widen the muscle that surrounds occipital nerve without actually operating on the nerve itself.
Dr. Blake, referenced on MyMigraineConnection.com, has since then moved to Texas, from the looks of it. She founded Headache Treatment Center of Northwest as part of Memorial Hermann Medical Group. The latest news reports suggest that she has introduced the "nerve decompression" procedure at the new clinic and is currently treating many a sufferer.
Here's a short video from the local TV station in Houston that tells us a story from one of her recent patients' point of view.
link: New Procedure Claims To Rid Headaches Forever
link: Revolutionary Migraine Treatment Only at Georgetown
Friday, May 16, 2008
Nerve Decompression Procedure For Treating Persistent Occipital Neuralgia Headaches
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Triptans Alone Could Cause Life-Threatening Condition
In 2006, 38 cases of serotonin syndrome associated with triptans (Imitrex, Maxalt, etc). Out of them, "27 were in patients taking the headache drugs and antidepressants and 11 in people taking headache drugs alone," said Offie Soldin, an associate professor at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington who conducted a new study for FDA. This study is the first to use the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System which is a fancy name for a database that monitors all drugs and therapeutic biologic products after they have been FDA-approved.
It's a well known fact that if one is on Valiums or Prozacs or whatever similar drugs that are out there that play a number on one's serotonin level, one should be careful with triptans. There even was an FDA warning about it in 2006. At least it's supposed to be. Many a doctor prescribe both antidepressants and triptans to migraine patients without as much as butting an eyelash.
That particular nuisance aside, this is the first time someone publicized the cases of serotonin syndrome from triptans alone. "In the 11 reports of serotonin syndrome, five patients were hospitalized and two cases were classified as life threatening," said study.
Considering the origins of the triptans as LSD derivatives, that comes as small surprise. It is, however, a good reminder to us all that triptans are a serious medicine that's has to be taken carefully and if there's any notable after-effects, one has to pay close attention to them. Here's a short primer on what to be on look-out for:
Mild symptoms of serotonin syndrome include Mild symptoms may only consist of tachycardia, and shivering, diaphoresis (sweating commonly associated with shock), mydriasis (dilated pupils), myoclonus (intermittent tremor or twitching), as well as overactive or overresponsive reflexes. In addition moderate intoxication includes abnormalities such as hyperactive bowel sounds, hypertension and hyperthermia; a temperature as high as 40 °C (104 °F) is common in moderate intoxication. The overactive reflexes and clonus in moderate cases may be greater in the lower limbs than in the upper limbs. Mental status changes include hypervigilance and agitation.
Severe symptoms include severe hypertension and tachycardia that may lead to shock. Severe case often have agitated delirium as well as muscular rigidity and high muscular tension. Temperature may rise to above 41.1 °C (105.98 °F) in life-threatening cases. Other abnormalities include metabolic acidosis, rhabdomyolysis, seizures, renal failure, and disseminated intravascular coagulation.
(source: wikipedia.com, serotonin syndrome, symptoms)
So, not to OD on LSD, do watch out for the above-mentioned abnormalities, my gentle readers.
link: Migraine Medicines May Cause Potentially Deadly Brain Syndrome
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
"Migraines & Exercise: How do You Stay Active?" Blog Carnival
May's edition of Migraine & Headache Blog Carnival is up and running. "Migraines & Exercise: How do You Stay Active?" is the theme for this month. Yours truly's submission is there as well but since the exercise makes one sweat, it's about about watching movies.
Remote-lifting is long overdue for the nomination as an Olympic sport :P .
link: migraines & exercise: May Headache Blog Carnival
Depression and Concentration Natural Remedies
Does sound like those two things are at a cross purpose, doesn't it. When you want to "chilax", you don't really want to "concentrate" on stuff, and when you need more focus, relaxing isn't the first thing that comes to mind.
Well, lets think about it again. In a long run, depression will weaken and water-down your concentration. The loss of focus on things that need to be done or things that are important might lead to more depression later on. It's a self-feeding loop of misery.
Sounds familiar to some of you, my gentle readers? It should. This is one of the perks of having a migraine - feeling blue and blurry-minded.
There are plenty of pills that should fix us up. Except, until they come up with a mix of Prozac and Ritalin, it will still be the same never ending circle of annoying side effects.
I came across a couple of excellent articles recently that list some natural remedies, one for depression, another for improving concentration. While most of the items on the lists were familiar, I did trip over a surprise item or two.
Here's the list from "Dr. Nicole"'s The Nine Best Natural Remedies for Depression
- St. John’s wort
- Schisandra
- Passionflower
- B-vitamins
- Calcium/Magnesium
- Omega 3 Fatty acids
- 5-HTP
- S-adenosyl-Methionine (SAMe)
- Vitamin D
Not only I was not aware of Schisandra, I never thought one could overdose on Vitamin D. The whole write-up is extremely well documented and detailed with some pretty specific recommendations. It looks more like a research paper than a blog post. A must read.
The second list, Concentration Foods: 5 Foods That Help You Concentrate and Focus at Work? , comes from The Daily Minder:
- Ginkgo Biloba
- Ginseng
- Coffee
- Brahmi (Bacopa Monnieri)
- Fish (Omega 3 Fatty acids)
Notice the interesting overlap of Omega 3 Fatty acids in both lists. It would be interesting to read about it in more detail; questions like - "Do Japanese make anime because they eat more fish and if we start eating more fish, do we start making anime too?" need to be answered.
Brahmi is a new thing to me as well. Curiously enough, it's not only used to improve the "noggin-werkz" but also recommended for treating anxiety and stress.
There's also a nice observation on coffee - the "more often you drink coffee the less effective it can become". Caffeine is somewhat of a controversy among the migraine people and it's something we should pay attention to. As Megan recently pointed out, for migraine patients, it's recommended "limiting caffeine to one cup per day, and using more to treat migraines when they arise."
Do give all the above-mentioned articles a read-through, you won't be disappointed.
link: The Nine Best Natural Remedies for Depression
link: Concentration Foods: 5 Foods That Help You Concentrate and Focus at Work?
link: Caffeine Withdrawal and Weekend Migraines
Monday, May 12, 2008
FBI Investigates Epilepsy Forums Hacking
Wired.com follows up on the hacking of epilepsy forums, reported this March.
It looks like the feds have finally found a loophole that would allow them to investigate and prosecute whoever perpetrated that particular attack.
Hackers are usually hard to prosecute. The law that covers cyber-attacks is somewhat white-washed and the investigators have to jump through lots of legal hoops to get cases to actual prosecution. Unless there's an actual crime, like stealing information that could be proved valuable or intentional damage to the hacked hardware, the FBI isn't really enthusiastic in going after internet crime.
It's not like the government lacks the talent or resources to find the culprits. It's just not in the books and thus is not a good place to invest agents' time and effort.
In this particular instance, there was one obscure line, buried in anti-cyber terrorism provision passed in 1996, which is a part of the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act. It states that
It's a crime to attack a computer to cause "physical injury to any person."
As such, the reported hacking of epilepsy forums is actually a federal crime and FBI can successfully prosecute.
Rumoredly, the attack was a side-battle in the war between Scientologists and hacker group Anonymous. Whether it's true or not, here's wishing god speed to the FBI agents who are investigating this particular crime and hoping we will soon find out who is behind it.
related article: Epilepsy Forums Hacked, Users Are In Pain
link: Report: FBI Investigates Epilepsy Forum Attackers
Sunday, May 11, 2008
La Petite Mort in Review
After doing pieces on depression, anxiety, PTSD and the accompanying doom and gloom, here's something silly and relaxing for you, my gentle readers.
Dr. Alverston Bailey, contributor to jamaica-gleaner.com, has written a review of "Sexual Healing", new (?) book by Dr. Paul Pearsall, director of behavioral medicine at Detroit's Beaumont Hospital. Too many doctors are taking to the pen recently; it's like healing with traditional tools of the trade is going out of style.
Painstakingly, Dr. Bailey bullet-points the "whats" and the "whys" of sex being good for you. Somehow, after seeing all the effort put into it, it seems just such a waste to let this little write-up sink to the bottom of other pointless bits and bytes that is the inter-webs.
Here's the short summary of the "whats", as in sex, what's it really good for...
- Long life
- Improved sense of smell
- Reduced risk of heart disease
- Improved fitness and well-being
- Improved mental health
- Pain relief
- Less-frequent colds and flu
- Better bladder control
- Prostate Protection
If any of it caught your attention, click on the link below to see the corresponding "whys".
Doing something always seems more fulfilling when there's a good, scientifically-founded excuse for it, doesn't it?
link: Talking sex - sexual healing
Friday, May 9, 2008
Botox Rebellion Spreads Cautiously
Seems that as of today, "Most Migraines are Successfully Treated" ... using Botox. It's on the interwebs so it must be true.
American Academy of Neurology's new guidelines rather specifically state that Botox is no better than placebo injections for migraines or tension headaches. Dr. Zahid Bajwa, Director, Education and Clinical Pain Research, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and Assistant Professor of Anesthesia and Neurology at Harvard Medical School says otherwise -
“What we have found is that for some patients, Botox is dramatically beneficial where many other treatments fail.”
Whom are we to believe? There are some success stories that justify using Botox to treat migraines but research seems to indicate otherwise.
One interesting thing about the aforementioned article is the way it is written.
- First it's listing usual treatments with some more advanced ones, like nerve-block injections, thrown in to paint a picture of what "normal" treatment plan is like.
- Secondly, have a patient say - "I tried the usual treatments, they don't work."
- Next is some sciency talk about how Botox works and in what study it has succeeded as a migraine treatment.
- And the last bit is how more studies need to be done and why, with a good deal of scientific integrity sprinkled on top, as represented by numbers, just the sufficient amount of self-questioning and a touch of name-dropping.
Are there different undercurrents in the neurological research, some conflicts of opinion, divergence from the mainstream? Or is it simply the marketing forces at work? Most importantly, is it worth to shell out your hard-earned dough for something that is not guaranteed to work or as some say - guaranteed not to work?
To quote Fox Molder, "The truth is out there". He also mentioned something about "Trust no one" but what does he know...
link: Most Migraines Successfully Treated
