Alternative Medicine » Migraines Articles & Stories

Depression isn’t all “in the head.” There are a number of disturbing and quite physical symptoms – very depressing in their own right – that can be markers for the condition, especially if several of them occur together. They include:

Digestive problems. A person might experience a range of varied difficulties, from nausea to diarrhea to chronic constipation.

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The value of Botox in treating and preventing chronic migraines in adults has been confirmed by four separate studies in the U.S., Canada and Europe. These studies have discovered that treatment with botulinum toxin type A was associated with significantly fewer headache days, less headache-related disability, and significantly improved quality of life. The results are being presented at the 14th International Headache Congress hosted by the American Headache Society.
( Read more about Botox May Be The Answer for Preventing Migraines)

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Headaches affect roughly 45 million people in the United States. Of those people, migraine headaches are the most common type of headache that sends patients to their doctor's office. Migraines occur when constricting blood vessels in the brain cause intense, recurring vascular headaches. Like other forms of headaches, women suffer from migraines more often than men. ( Read more about Migraines Affect Mostly Women)

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Habitually working while sick, an increasingly common practice, can land a person in a situation in which his risk of having to take long-term sick leave is markedly increased, according to a recent study. The researchers, who published their work in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, enrolled nearly 12,000 Danes in their investigation. The men and women, who had been unbrokenly employed for at least a year, filled out questionnaires revealing their attitudes toward work, their willingness to take time off for illness, and their general health. ( Read more about Going to Work Sick Linked to Long-Term Leave)

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A relatively uncommon form of specialized dentistry can relieve pain that’s so excruciating it gives sufferers incapacitating migraines, makes it impossible for them to touch their own faces, and gives them ringing in their ears, to boot.
   
Not infrequently, patients who don’t know the cause of their suffering have to go to the emergency room for relief, for their pain doesn’t respond to the powerful migraine medication Imitrex. That’s because their headaches aren’t caused in the manner of true migraines, but come from temporomandibular joint disorder, or jaw misalignment.

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Migraine sufferers seem to have an increased tendency to experience mood and anxiety disorders, according to a recent study - though it's not clear whether one causes the other or if both are caused by some unknown third factor.

"An expanding body of literature has shown that migraine headaches are associated with higher rates of mental disorders," said Jitender Sareen of the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, and his colleagues in their study, published in General Hospital Psychiatry. But past studies, they said, have suffered from a number of weaknesses. ( Read more about Mental Disorders Associated With Migraines)

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The jaw misalignment that causes temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) subjects people for years to jaw pain, migraine headaches and difficulty with speaking, smiling and eating. And doctors may have enormous trouble diagnosing what's really going on.

The condition is suffered by between 5 and 15 percent of Americans, which is as many as 45 million people, according to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the federal National Institutes of Health. ( Read more about Neuromuscular Dentists Treat Jaw Disorder)

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A recent report by health provider BUPA has found that people's worries are damaging their health by causing sleepless nights, loss of sex drive, and erratic eating habits. The 2007 Worry Report demonstrates that almost one in five people constantly worry about numerous things, and more than half feel they worry more now than five years ago. Half of the people surveyed this year, which is 6% more than in 2006, claimed they were more worried about their health and their family's health than about other concerning issues such as climate change or terrorist attacks. The survey finds that almost three quarters of people worry, but around 19% admit to worrying all the time or about a number of things.

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A Review in The Lancet reveals the importance of healthy lifestyle choices to reduce stressors related to cardiovascular risk factors. Researchers from John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore examined records between 1990 to 2006. They observed how stress affects the sympathetic nervous system, impacts physiology, and the effect it has on the cardiovascular system. Lead author, Daniel Brotman, claims "Acute physical stressors such as sugery, trauma, and intense physical exertion are well known triggers of cardiovascular events. Emotional stressors are increasingly recognized as precipitants of such events."

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Have you been to a practitioner besides your family physician? Whether chiropractic care, acupuncture, yoga or homeopathy, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) has become increasingly common in the United States, and 72% of adults use some form of CAM therapies according to the US National Centers for Disease Control and US National Center for Health Statistics. A recent cover story in The New York Times Magazine highlighted how chronic pain tends to be under treated because doctors worry about over prescribing medications, and being liable for malpractice or even criminal penalties. Many doctors fear entering the field of pain management at all. Many patients are also concerned about becoming dependant on medication or about the invasiveness and dangers of surgery and anesthesia. CAM therapies, which are able to treat pain and help manage diseases without medication or surgery, are rapidly growing services as people search out better, safer approaches. So how effective are Complementary and Alternative Medicine therapies? ( Read more about Rapid Rise in "Complementary" Medical Services)

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