Speaker: While science hasn't discovered a cure for migraine headache, breakthroughs and preventive therapy allow many patients to significantly reduce or even eliminate their migraine headaches. But what are preventive medication and how exactly do they work?
Dr. Stephen Silberstein: Preventative medications if usually taken on a daily basis can reduce or even eliminate most migraine attacks. Attacks which occur while on preventive medication are usually milder and easy to treat. There are a number of different kinds of preventative therapy each of which works in a slightly different way.
Most preventative migraine medications works by inhibiting the brain's hyper excitability which is commonly believed to be the source of migraine aura and headache. Beta Blockers are commonly prescribed for patients with high blood pressure or chest pain and also effective in reducing brain excitability. So many depressants are also effective treatments for migraine.
For example, Elavil works to increase brain Serotonin and norepinephrine. Many of the drugs used to treat Epilepsy are effective in migraine treatment. Two of these dugs, Depakote and Topamax are approved by the FDA. In clinical trials, almost half are the Depakote patient and more than half of the Topamax patients saw at least a 50% reduction in their migraine headaches. While these drugs all work by directly affecting brain excitability, they do it in different ways.
Some therapies work by regulating the Serotonin levels in the brain. For example, antidepressants like Prozac, Lovact and Paxil regulates Serotonin that might trigger a migraine attack. Topamax which is the most prescribed brand for migraine prevention in United States works in a different manner than all the other therapies.
Nerve cells communicate with chemical messengers called Neurotransmitters. When these nerve cells get excited, they may release too much other neurotransmitters. Some researchers believe that this triggers a migraine cascade. Topamax keeping excitable nerve cells in the brain, calm, which lowers a chance of a migraine cascade starting. This can reduce the number of migraine attacks you get.
Preventative therapy of the most effective way to treat people who suffer from frequent migraine or even tension headache. Although this type of therapy isn't a cure, it can reduce a number of headaches that patients get by more than half, sometimes completely eliminating them. If you say that you are suffering from migraine headaches and could benefit from and more of these treatment options, please see a doctor with an interest in migraine today.
Speaker: The movies in this series can be viewed in any order. The videos which preceded this one, discuss the cause of headache, migraine auras, headache triggers and abortive therapies. If you'd like to learn more about these topics, please view the appropriate movie.
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