Periodically, group members request information on migraine, which seems to
be quite a common and very debilitating disorder, so I spent yesterday
hunting through as much migraine information as possible. Here are some of
the fruits of these labours.
http://www.pslgroup.com/MIGRAINE.HTM
http://www.zinezone.com/zines/goodlife/mind/head/
http://www.migraines.org/
Excerpt from the section in this latter website, called "Migraines: Myth &
Reality":
http://www.migraines.org/myth/mythreal.htm
MYTH: A MIGRAINE IS JUST A BAD HEADACHE.
REALITY: MIGRAINE IS A DISEASE, A HEADACHE IS ONLY A SYMPTOM. IN ADDITION,
THE CAUSE OF MIGRAINE PAIN IS THE OPPOSITE OF THE CAUSE OF HEADACHE PAIN.
Migraine is disease, a headache is only a symptom. Migraine pain is caused by
vasodilation in the cranial blood vessels (expansion of the blood vessels),
while headache pain is caused by vasoconstriction (narrowing of the blood
vessels). During a migraine, inflammation of the tissue surrounding the
brain, i.e., neurogenic inflammation, exacerbates the pain.
Therefore, medicine often prescribed to treat a headache, such as
beta-blockers, dilate the blood vessels and therefore can make a Migraine
worse.
On the other hand, your doctor could have been following advice that
sometimes in some people, beta blockers may help. For instance, see this
website:
http://lef.org/protocols/prtcl-076.shtml
In the USA, Zomig is a very popular drug used to control migraine. Since it
is a vasoconstrictor, it is not recommended for use with anyone suffering
from heart disease.
In the world of alternative healing, the herb feverfew seems rather popular.
Here is a site which gives information on this and other herbs:
http://www.zinezone.com/zines/goodlife/mind/head/head8.html#TpINFO3072516025
If you wish to do more of your own searches on any topic, the following
metasearch engine will help you:
http://www.metacrawler.com
Dr Mel C Siff
Denver, USA
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