Migraine and Migraine-Related News from the AAN: American Academy of Neurology Meeting

The AAN: American Academy of Neurology is currently holding their annual meeting. Although the meeting does not until tomorrow, May 2, here's news they have already released.

Preventive Drugs Reduce Severity of Menstrual Migraine
SEATTLE, April 29 -- Preventive eletriptan (Relpax) and sumatriptan (Imitrex) may reduce the severity and duration of menstrual migraine, researchers here said....
To read the entire article click HERE.

Stroke Risk Cut 65% in Patients Who Hit Major Risk Factor Targets
SEATTLE, April 29 -- Patients who meet guideline targets for "good" and "bad" cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure can expect a 65% reduction in stroke risk, according to research presented here....
To read the entire article click HERE.

Glutamate Receptor Inhibitors May Help Migraine
SEATTLE, April 30 -- Inhibition of glutamate receptors may play a role in migraine treatment, researchers here said...
To read the entire article click HERE.

Epilepsy Drug Not Effective for Chronic Headache
SEATTLE, April 30 -- The epilepsy drug levetiracetam (Keppra) does not appear to be effective for prevention of chronic daily headache, researchers said here...
To read the entire article click HERE.

How Much Would You Pay to Avoid Pain?

Yes, this is creepy but interesting.

Researchers wanted to know how much money people were willing to pay to avoid pain and discomfort. So, they gave study participants cash and told them they could keep whatever they had left over.

Then they were electrocuted. Yes, I said ELECTROCUTED. The participants were given one pulse of electric shock and asked how much they would pay to avoid 15 more shocks.

After that, a computer program randomly determined what they would pay. If the computer picked more money than what the person was willing to pay, they got shocked again. If the computer selected a lower amount, the participant paid that amount so they wouldn't get shocked again.

This was repeated on each participant a number of times with different shock intensities.

The results of this study determined that participants were willing to pay more to avoid pain if it was "more intense compared to previous trials". Surprising (or maybe not) participants also based what they were willing to pay on how much money they were given vs. their overall wealth.

To read about this study click HERE.

Migraine Million Campaign This Mother's Day

May 10th is Mother's Day. It's also the launch day of the National Headache Foundation’s Migraine Million campaign. This campaign is to:

...raise awareness about the genetic link associated with migraine and encourage people to talk to their moms during the holiday to uncover potential clues about their own headaches and ultimately get the care they need.

The Migraine Million campaign is asking for a $1 (or more) donation to show the woman/women (mom, sister, friend, etc.) in your life you care about her and her well being and you take her Headaches and Migraines seriously. In return for letting this person know she's "one in a million", you'll receive a card to email or download so that you can let her know you've made a donation in her honor.

Migraine Disease is genetic. The National Headache Foundation says if you have a relative with Migraine you have a 20% chance of having it too. If you have one parent with Migraine you have a 50% chance of having these attacks and if both your parents have Migraine, then you have a 75% of having them.

For more information click HERE.
To make a donation click HERE.

Electronic Headache and Migraine Diaries

James at Headache and Migraine News needs your input about Electronic Headache and Migraine Diaries. Stop by his site and take the quick survey.

Managing Life with Migraine Teleconference

On Sunday, April 26th, at 4 pm Eastern time, Megan Oltman of Free My Brain From Migraine Pain is hosting her second monthly Managing Life with Migraine Teleconference with Michael John Coleman, Co-Founder, President, and Executive Director of MAGNUM, the National Migraine Association. Participation is FREE but registration is required. Details and how to participate can be found HERE.

Chronic Pain Patients Experience Anxiety -- UH...REALLY?!?!

A recent study of 125 patients seeking treatment for chronic pain analyzed the role of anxiety on everyday functioning and found:

...individuals with high levels of anxiety due to chronic pain exhibit more emotional distress and disability.

Do we really need a study to tell us this?!?!
To read about this study click HERE.

Please Help to Get Better Migraine Treatment

The Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy (AHDA) is asking for our support for their second "Headache on the Hill" (HOH), to be held February 23 and 24, 2009.  This HOH will be similar to the first one held in September, 2007 and is

...intended to bring headache clinical and research specialists and patient advocate leaders to Washington, DC to educate members of Congress and their staffs about the problem of NIH under-funding of headache research and to suggest remedies. 

Last spring, emails, prompted by the AHDA, sent by us Migraineurs and our friends and family, to state Senators and House Members had a very positive impact and

...led to the adoption of the House and Senate report language that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is currently responding to.

You can help by signing up for AHDA "Action Alerts" emails.  When the AHDA needs help they will send you an "Action Alert" and ask for your support by doing things such as contacting your state Senators and House Members.  The AHDA provides a letter for you to use that is already written.  If you'd like, you can personalize it.  The email is automatically sent to your state representatives without you having to go to the trouble of looking up their contact information.  Sending an email will take you less than 10 minutes.

I know you understand how important this is so please take a few minutes and sign up for "Action Alerts" now. 

For more information please click HERE to go to this MyMigraineConnection article written by Teri Robert. 

Click HERE to go to the AHDA's site.
To join the AHDA mailing list click HERE.