Many of us must have had a form of headache before and just slipped through it. But few that had experienced a severe and elongated one will know how devastating it is to go through such pain. One of the severe type that is common and of public health concern is the migraine headache. With this post, i am optimistic that every of my readers will take their time to go through inorder to prevent or manage such condition in case of occurrence. Literarily, everyone understands that when there is a pain or discomfort in the head, it is reffered to as headache; but when the pain is unbearable especially if it affects a part of the head and spreads to other part of the body, then it's more than an ordinary headache. You will not be outrightly wrong if you're suspecting the migraine type of headache.
Migraine headache: what is it all about?
Migraine is a primary headache disorder characterized by recurrent headaches that are moderate to severe. Other types of headaches can also cause severe pain, and not all headaches are migraines. Migraine type of headache is a form of vascular headache. This type of headache typically affect one half of the head and last from two to 72 hours. Migraine headache is a result of specific changes within the brain. It causes severe head pain that is often accompanied by sensitivity to light, sound or smells.
Migraine headache is caused by vasodilation (enlargement of blood vessels) that causes the release of chemicals from nerve fibers that coil around the large arteries of the brain. Enlargement of these blood vessel stretches the nerve that coil around them and causes the nerves to release chemicals. The chemicals cause inflammation, pain and further enlargement of the artery. The increasing enlargement of the arteries magnifies the pain. Migraine attacks, commonly activate the sympathetic nervous system in the body. The sympathetic nervous system is often thought of as the part of the nervous system that controls primitive responses to stress and pain, the co-called “fright or flight” response and this activation sympathetic nervous activity in the intestine causes nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Sympathetic activity also delays emptying of the stomach in the small intestine and thereby presents oral medications from entering the intestine and being absorbed. The impaired absorption of oral medication is a common reason for the ineffectiveness of medications taken to treat migraine headaches. Migraine afflicts 28 million Americans with females affected more frequently (17%) than male (6%). Missed work and lost productivity from migraine create a significant public burden. Nevertheless, migraine still remains largely under-diagnosed and under-treated. Less than half of individuals with migraines are diagnosed by their doctors.
Symptoms of Migraine headache
The pain usually is unilateral (on one side of the head), although often time, the pain is bilateral (on both sides of the head). The unilateral headaches typically change sides from one attach to the next. (infact, unilateral headaches that always occur on the same side should alter the doctor to consider a secondary headache, for example, one caused by a brain tumour). A migraine headache usually is aggravated by daily activities such as walking upstairs.
Other factors that influenced migraine are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, facial pallor, cold hands, cold feet, and sensitivity of light and sound. As a result of this sensitivity to light and sound, migraine victims usually prefer to lie in a quiet, dark room during an attack. A typical attack lasts between 4 and 72 hours. An estimated 40% - 60% of migraine attacks are preceded by monitoring (warning) symptoms lasting hours to days. The symptoms may include: sleeplessness, Irritability, Fatigue, Depression, Euphoria, Yawning, and Cravings for sweet or salty foods. Patients and their family members usually know that when they observe these warning symptoms, that a migraine attack is beginning.
How Migraine headache is diagnosed
A computed tomography brain scan showing bilateral basal ganglia calcification BY Abu-Amero KK et al. - CC BY 2.0, link
How Migraine headache is treated
FMRI scan during working memory tasks BY John Graner - CC BY 3.0, link
Preventive Therapy
Sleep therapy BY Mark J. Sebastian - CC BY 3.0, link
Medication for migraine
Individual with occasional mild migraine headaches that do not interfere with daily activities usually medicate themselves with over-the-counter (OTC or non-prescription) pain relievers (analgesics). Many OTC analgesics are available. OTC analgesics have been shown to be safe and effective for short-term relief of headache (as well as muscle aches, pains, menstrual cramps, and fever) when used according to the instructions on their label.
Excedrin Migraine BY J. Smith - CC BY 3.0, link
Conclusion
I have done everyone a favour by writing and posting this vital information. Prevention is better than cure. Please consult your Medical Doctor for guidance on all health related issues
All Images Used In This Article, Are Linked To The Respective Owners
Thank you for reading
|References|
If you write STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) related posts, consider joining #steemSTEM on discord here. If you are from Nigeria, you may want to include the #stemng tag in your post. You can visit this blog by 
