Botox May Be The Answer for Preventing Migraines

One of the studies involving 705 adults with chronic migraines found that prophylactic treatment with Botox resulted in statistically and clinically meaningful improvements at all problem sites. Lead author, David Dodick, M.D., elaborates by stating, “Subjects were randomized to receive onabotulinumtoxinA or placebo injections every 12 weeks to determine changes in the number of headache days at the end of 24 weeks. We found that the group on onabotulinumtoxinA not only experienced fewer headache days, but also showed significant reduction in migrained episodes, total hours of headache per month, and headache related disability. This resulted in improved functioning and quality of life.”

Dodick continues, explaining the significance of the study, “This is an important advance in migrained prevention. Patients afflicted with chronic migraine are severely disabled. Very few preventive treatments have been investigated for chronic migraine and none is yet approved.” Of the estimated 36 million Americans suffering from migraines, about 6 million experience chronic migraine; most are undiagnosed and inadequately treated.

A second study conducted by Richard Lipton, M.D., of the Montefiore Headache Center in New York City, compared quality of life measurements for subjects on Botox vs. placebo. According to Lipton, “The findings revealed the magnitude of the improvement in headache-related quality of life to be highly statistically significant and reflects clinically meaningful improvements in functioning and vitality, and a decrease in psychological stress. The relief that onabotulinumtoxinA brings and the enormous improvement in functioning and vitality is striking.”