What is Migraine ?

Migraine is a neurological disease of which the most common symptom is an intense and disabling episodic headache. Migraine headaches are usually characterized by severe pain on one or both sides of the head. Absent serious head injuries, stroke, and tumors, the recurring severity of the pain indicates a vascular headache rather than a tension headache . More than 28 million Americans three times more women than men suffer from migraine headaches, a type of headache that’s often severe. In some cases, these painful headaches are preceded or accompanied by a sensory warning sign such as flashes of light, blind spots or tingling in your arm or leg. A migraine headache is also often accompanied by other signs and symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound.

A migraine can be disabling — with symptoms so severe, all you can think about is finding a dark, quiet place to lie down. Up to 17 percent of women and 6 percent of men have experienced a migraine.

More than 29.5 million Americans suffer from migraine, with women being affected three times more often than men. This vascular headache is most commonly experienced between the ages of 15 and 55, and 70% to 80% of sufferers have a family history of migraine. Less than half of all migraine sufferers have received a diagnosis of migraine from their healthcare provider. Migraine is often misdiagnosed as sinus headache or tension-type headache.

What are the Causes of migraine?

Until recently, the general theory on the migraine process rested solely on the idea that abnormalities of blood vessel (vascular) systems in the head were responsible for migraines. Now, however, experts tend to believe that migraine starts with an underlying central nervous system disorder. When triggered by various stimuli, this disorder sets off a chain of neurologic and biochemical events, some of which subsequently affect the brain’s vascular system. No experimental model fully explains the migraine process.

There is certainly a strong genetic component in migraine with or without auras. Researchers have located a single genetic mutation responsible for the very rare familial hemiplegic migraine, but several genes are likely to be involved in the great majority of migraine cases. Numerous chemicals, structures, nerve pathways, and other players involved in the process are under investigation.

A migraine begins when, for some reason, blood vessels in the brain narrow (constrict) temporarily. When that happens, the amount of blood and oxygen flowing to the brain drops. So the brain sends a message: “Hey guys, we need some more blood and oxygen here!”

What are migraine triggers?

A migraine trigger is any factor that causes a headache in individuals who are prone to develop headaches. Only a small proportion of migraine sufferers, however, clearly can identify triggers.

Disturbances such as sleep deprivation, too much sleep, poor quality of sleep, and frequent awakening at night are associated with both migraine and tension headaches, whereas improved sleep habits have been shown to reduce the frequency of migraine headaches

Caffeine is contained in many food products (cola, tea, chocolates, coffee) and OTC analgesics.

Some women who suffer from migraine headaches experience more headaches around the time of their menstrual periods.



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Abdominal migraine is the pain in the abdomen even when there is no headache and it occurs often in children but rarely in adults. It is common in children aging five to nine years old. Abdominal migraine consists primarily of abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting and the patient may become flushed or pale. Typically, the pain lasts anywhere from one to six hours.

The most frustrating part of abdominal migraine is the diagnosis because young children have difficulty in trying to explain how they feel. Since migraine is believed to be genetically based, it is quite certain that there is a member in the family who also has a migraine. Besides medical history and family history, diagnosis usually involves a physical examination, blood and urine tests and tests such as sonography. Non-drug treatment like bio feed back is helpful in both children and adults and beta-blockers can be a preventive medication.

In most of the cases, a child with abdominal migraine would still have migraine as an adult, though the symptoms may change. It has been studied that migraines can do permanent damage and so, the sooner the treatment, the better. The children who experience abdominal migraine eventually develop migraine with or without aura. An abdominal migraine can be diagnosed through attacks of abdominal pain lasting 1 to 72 hours and characteristically, pain in midline location and periumbilical part, and of dull or just sore quality with moderate or severe intensity.

A child suffering from abdominal pain may have either one or any two of anorexia, nausea, vomiting and pallor (dark shadows under the eyes). The child suffering from abdominal migraine experiences pain, which is severe enough to interfere with normal routine activities. Most children with abdominal migraine are certain to develop migraine head ache in their later life. The attacks are self-limiting and resolve almost spontaneously and the patients have no symptoms between attacks.

The abdominal pain usually occurs in the morning, though it may also occur at any time of the day. The other symptoms are photophobia, phono phobia and dizziness. Since there is no diagnostic test to confirm abdominal migraine, it is achieved only through patient’s medical history and family history, evaluating the symptoms and ruling out other causes of symptoms.

If the abdominal migraine is of serious nature, the patient can be allowed to take rest and the condition usually improves with sleep and he or she should be allowed to lie down in a quiet and dark room, undisturbed.

If the abdominal migraine is not frequent, medications used for other types of migraine are given and when they are frequent, preventive therapies used for migraines can be given. But fundamentally, the choice of medication largely depends upon the age of the patient.



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