Obesity, Migraines and Intracranial Pressure, Part Deux - Revenge of Pseudotumor Cerebri

It's good to get comments on your articles. First, it means someone is actually reading; secondly, the people who read what you write might actually know more on the subject than the author.

Case in point - Eileen was kind enough to steer me to the article by Teri Robert posted on Teri's MyMigraineConnection.com SharePosts. The article is more in depth than the one by yours truly. So, if you are interested in idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), that one is a must read.

In addition to available diagnostics and treatments, Pseudotumor Cerebri (IIH) - The Basics lists additional symptoms of IIH, such as:

• Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
• Shoulder and/or neck pain
• Pulsating intracranial noises (a "swooshing" sound or Heartbeat in the ears)
• Pain behind the eyes
• Memory problems
• Hearing loss and
• Migraine attacks with unexplained triggers

There's also an IIH support group on MSN groups. Be sure to check it out, it seems well designed and informative.

Thanks for Eileen and Teri for the additional info. Ladies, you rock. Here's a kitten for you:



The more yours truly has been learning about IIH, the more obvious it became that it is not a jolly thing if left untreated. And so, my gentle readers, please do heed the warning from the previous article. And that was - "If you are overweight and have a chronic migraine, do yourself a favor and go see a doctor about it."

Obesity, Migraines and Intracranial Pressure

If you have a migraine and you seem to have gained too much weight, you might want to ask your doctor to check you for idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH). Which, translated from a science-speak, means too much pressure inside your head.

Intracranial hypertension is often associated with chronic daily headache (CDH). However, a resent research by Dr. Mario F. P. Peres and colleagues, of Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, Sao Paulo, Brazil, has found that "a small but significant number of patients with chronic migraine had an increase in intracranial pressure. Obesity was a factor related to this finding."

Now, the percentage of migraine people having this hypertension in their heads might not be large. However, it's one of those things that really, and I mean, really, needs to be looked at. Why? Here, look at the symptoms:

"Characteristic features of IIH are headache (worse in the morning, associated with nausea) and vision problems, such as double vision, transient visual obscurations, loss of peripheral sight or blurring of vision. If untreated, complete loss of vision is possible."

So, once again, if you are seriously overweight and have a chronic migraine, do yourself a favor and go see a doctor about it. Remember or write down "Idiopathic intracranial hypertension" or "Benign intracranial hypertension" to help her connect the dots and she'll know what to test you for. Treatments are available and they might help you not only loose that extra weight but also reduce the number of headaches you have to suffer through.

link: Intracranial pressure tied to obesity in migraineurs

Migraine and Chronic Daily Headache in Arab Countries

"Pain is often viewed as a character flaw or a weakness. But really, it's an invisible disease. You don't need to have a bandage or lose your hair to be its victim."

Sounds like something Teri Robert would say, doesn't it? But this time it was Thuraya Kamber Al Awadi, member of the UAE Businesswomen's Council who said it. UAE is United Arab Emirates; the one we see on the telly from time to time. Thuraya Kamber Al Awadi is a spokeswoman for the newly-launched pain management campaign 'Relief'. She continues - "Pain is often viewed as a character flaw or a weakness. But really, it's an invisible disease. You don't need to have a bandage or lose your hair to be its victim."

Looks like they have to deal with the same problems as we do here in the western countries. Maybe even more so - there is some data that suggests that "Headache ("Wajaa-Raas") is one of the most common symptoms in Arab population."

Interestingly, the types of headaches seem to vary from tribe to tribe. People from Yemen, for example, are more susceptible to tension ("Taab" or "Tafkeer") headaches. On the other hand in people of Bahrain migraines ("Veeraathi") seem to be more prevalent.

Would the 'Relief' campaign be successful? Even in the U.S., most of the "invisible disease" advocacy falls on the deaf ears. On the other hand, with the growth of business and economy in the Arab countries, predictions like "Loss of productivity due to headaches is estimated to affect 200,000 people daily in UAE" might prompt people and businesses to pay more attention to this subject. We most sincerely hope they would.

technorati tags: tension headache CDH Chronic Daily Headache UAE migraine migraine headache

Botox Tries to Make a ComeBack as Migraine Diagnosis Tool

Ever since American Academy of Neurology announced that Botox is no better than placebo injections for migraines or tension headaches, there have been subtle underground movement to bring it back into Migraine-fighting arena.

While most of this understated punditry is an interesting to observe exercise of balancing science and salesmanship (see Botox Rebellion Spreads Cautiously), some tries are pretty innovative.

The latest one proposes to use "Botox, which temporarily weakens muscles, to identify which nerves or trigger points are causing pain. He [Dr. Jeffrey Janis] then performs surgery to decompress the involved nerves, which in turn lead to migraine headache relief in more than 90 percent of patients."

If Dr. Janis' method gains popularity then Botox, as a way to pinpoint locations for nerve decompression, might once again inch into the legitimacy as a tool for treating migraine and other types of headaches.

related article: Nerve Decompression Procedure For Treating Persistent Occipital Neuralgia Headaches
link: Mitigating Migraine Misery with Botox

technorati tags: alternative migraine treatments Botox CDH migraine research neurology snake oil tension headache nerve decompression Dr. Jeffrey Janis migraine migraines headache headaches

Nerve Decompression Procedure For Treating Persistent Occipital Neuralgia Headaches

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

technorati tags: migraine migraines headache headaches Dr. Ducic Dr. Pamela Blake occipital neuralgia nerve decompression CDH migraine treatment

Botox Does Not Help with Migraine and Tension Headaches

...Concluded American Academy of Neurology. The new guidelines approve using botulinum toxin for the following movement disorders associated with excessive muscle contraction:

• Cervical dystonia, a condition of involuntary head tilt or neck movement
• Involuntary facial contractions
• Involuntary eye closure
• Focal limb dystonias (such as writer's cramp)
• Essential tremor
• Some spastic bladder disorders
• Low back pain, possibly; more studies are needed to reach a decisive conclusion

Researchers reviewed and analyzed all available scientific studies on botulinum toxin and came to a conclusion that Botox does not help migraine and tension headache patients.

The author of the guidelines, Dr. Markus Naumann, head of the Department of Neurology at Augsburg Hospital, Germany, stated that "Based on currently available data, botulinum toxin injections should not be offered to patients with episodic migraine and chronic tension-type headaches."

The bottom line of the study and the resulting guidelines is - Botox is no better than placebo injections for migraines or tension headache. Should it now be moved into the "snake oil" category?


link: Botox Works on Muscle Disorders But Not Migraines

technorati tags: Botox neurology migraine research alternative migraine treatments snake oil migraine migraines headache headaches CDH chronic daily headache tension headache