Today’s round-up of news about migraine, visual snow, persistent aura and related illnesses:

Migraine sufferers find faster relief with spray medication. by JEAN ENERSEN / KING 5 News. Posted on November 10, 2009 at 11:05 PM. If you’ve ever had a migraine, you know how hard it is to function. You just want to crawl into a dark, quiet room. Now relief may be just a spray away thanks to a new migraine medicine.

Unexpected News About Migraines. by Dr. Ranit Mishori, PARADE.
Scientists recently discovered that women who get migraines may be less likely to develop breast cancer. In a study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, researchers followed 9000 women and found that those who had experienced migraines were 26% less likely to have had breast cancer. The authors believe that this effect may be related to changing hormone levels. Migraines are known to occur following drops in estrogen levels.

Neuros Medical Expands Management Team, Forms Advisory Board. CLEVELAND–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Neuros Medical, Inc., a medical device company developing innovative neurostimulation technology for the treatment of chronic pain, announced the expansion of their management team today with the addition of Zi-Ping Fang, PhD, as Chief Technology Officer. This follows their recent $1.8 million A round fundraising.

Today’s round-up of news about migraine, visual snow, persistent aura and related illnesses:

Menstrual migraine pattern may start in adolescence. NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – The association between menstruation and migraine headaches may start to become evident during adolescence, according to findings published in the March issue of Headache. Menstrual migraine is well-recognized in adult populations but not in adolescent populations, Dr. Andrew D. Hershey, of Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, and colleagues point out.

Today’s round-up of news about migraine, visual snow, persistent aura and related illnesses:

Hard facts to swallow on aspirin as doctors warn of dangers. A new study by The Lancet shows that aspirin should no longer be used to help prevent cardiovascular disease. What does this mean if you’re taking aspirin? The Mail on Sunday’s expert looks at the findings.

Efficacy and tolerability of intravenous methylergonovine in migraine female patients attending the emergency department: a pilot open-label study. Methylergonovine is an ergot alkaloid widely used in postpartum women. It is also an active metabolite of methysergide and previous studies suggest that it could be effective against refractory headache and cluster headache. The purpose of the present study was to assess the potential therapeutic effectiveness of methylergonovine in the emergency treatment of severe migraine.

Health Matters : What is Headache Secondary To Vasodilation From Medication? Dilation of the arteries of the scalp and brain seem to be one of the essential explanations of migraine headaches. Certain medications may produce similar headaches. In general, they are medications whose action is to cause dilation of the muscular wall of the artery.

Today’s round-up of news about migraine, visual snow, persistent aura and related illnesses:

Migraine and stroke. A systematic review in the BMJ pools nine observational studies to report a doubling of risk of stroke in people who suffer from migraine. Further analysis seems to show that the risk is confined to women whose migraine was accompanied by an aura – especially if they were young, smoked, and were taking oral contraception.

Today’s round-up of news about migraine, visual snow, persistent aura and related illnesses:

“Like a miracle”. By JESSICA SIEFF, Niles Daily Star. At the onset of a migraine, the pain can be absolutely debilitating. Experiencing one can leave the senses vulnerable to light, to sound, to touch. According to the American Migraine Foundation (AMF) for research and education, migraines plague one in four households in America, 36 million (12 percent) of the population.

PuraMed BioScience, Inc. to Launch E-Commerce Website for Online Purchases of Its Non-Prescription Migraine Treatment LipiGesic(TM) M. SCHOFIELD, Wis., Nov. 4, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PuraMed BioScience (OTCBB:PMBS – News), announced today it has accelerated the construction of its e-commerce website due to the volume of calls coming into PuraMed’s headquarters inquiring when the Company’s migraine headache treatment LipiGesic(TM) M, will become available for purchase. The site is expected to launch mid November 2009 and will include innovative brand images and messages with fully functional e-commerce capability.

NuPathe ready with new drug application for migraine treatment. NuPathe Inc., the Conshohocken specialty pharmaceutical company that is getting ready to file a new drug application for its experimental migraine headache treatment, has expanded its partnership formed in 2007 to take on Parkinson’s disease.

Children, Gluten Sensitivity and Other Food Related Issues. Celiac.com 11/03/2009 – Many infants, toddlers and young children are either born with or develop a variety of protein allergies with symptoms including anaphylaxis, intolerance or sensitivity to milk, egg, shellfish, crustacean, peanuts, nuts, sesame seeds, soy and gluten. These symptoms can manifest themselves in a variety of ways including … migraine.

[Please note that more obvious symptoms of migraine can appear up to a day after their actual start. But the start of a migraine can bring on craving for certain food types. So it is possible to wrongly think that a certain food, say chocolate, triggers the more obvious migraine that follows. Food allergy migraine triggers are rare. More commonly missed or delayed, or inadequate, meals are dietary migraine triggers - along with dehydration or not drinking enough. Source: Dr. MacGregor, Anne. 2005. Understanding Migraine & Other Headaches. The British Medical Association, Family Doctor Series.]

Research focuses on relief for chronic pain. Two pharmacology Ph.Ds at the University of Arizona College of Medicine are devoting their research to the management and treatment of persistent and chronic pain, which they say can cause depression, sleep disorders, poor judgment and atrophy in the brain.

Today’s round-up of news about migraine, visual snow, persistent aura and related illnesses:

Migraine episodes may be reduced with continuous OC [Oral Contraceptive] regimens. MedWire News: Most migraine headache episodes occur predominantly during or around the oral contraceptive hormone-free interval, show study results. In view of migraine’s importance and its relationship to sex steroids, an association between migraine and hormonal contraceptives is likely.

Today’s round-up of news about migraine, visual snow, persistent aura and related illnesses:

Unlocking Mysteries Of The Brain With PET. Molecular imaging pinpoints inflammation in the brains of schizophrenics and migraine sufferers. Inflammatory response of brain cells—as indicated by a molecular imaging technique—could tell researchers more about why certain neurologic disorders, such as migraine headaches and psychosis in schizophrenic patients, occur and provide insight into how to best treat them, according to two studies published in the November issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

Reported by Benefits and Work, the UK government green paper on the proposed National Care Service includes a “ruinous” shocker for people turning 65 who claim Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Attendance Allowance (AA). The proposals include:

• Removal of entitlement to the middle rate of the care component of DLA, and,
• A one-off tax payment of up to £20,000 either,
  • Payable on turning 65, or,
  • Recoverable from the elderly’s estate upon death.

The proposal suggests removing some or all of AA (the Benefits and Work page is unclear on this).

Benefits and Work say that the green paper suggests that the cost of care of one elderly person paid for by this tax would be between £17,000 and £20,000. The payment is means tested, so the poorest pensioner without many means or a house may be exempted.

As I read the website, however, this is only one of a range of suggestions. I suggest anyone claiming DLA and/or AA read the site for themselves. You can read more about the options and leave a comment here: http://careandsupport.direct.gov.uk/greenpaper/execsum/comment-page-52/#comment-6204

Members of Benefits and Work can read their article here: £20,000 shock birthday tax for all

Benefits and Work are a subscription organisation that offers advice and campaigns on behalf of those claiming a range of state benefits in the UK. A subscription costs just  £18.55 for a full year: http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/home

Another Reason to Help Kids Keep a Healthy Weight. By Jane Hart, MD. Healthnotes Newswire (October 29, 2009)—Headaches are a common, and sometimes disabling, condition in children, but their cause is not always clear. New research published in the journal Headache suggests that for some kids, headaches may be linked to extra weight. The good news is that weight loss in overweight kids may be one way to reduce headache frequency.

Local company develops migraine skin patch. PHILADELPHIA, PA.; October 29, 2009 (WPVI) — The 30 million Americans who get migraines know they are more than just headaches. They affect work & family life. For many, finding relief is difficult. But there is a new remedy on the way. It’s a local company with a new twist on an old drug. And so far, the results are promising.

Research and Markets: Patent Foramen Ovale Closure Market: Clinical Trial Outcomes to Play a Key Role. Over the last decade there has been considerable evidence gathered, relating Patent Foramen Ovales (PFO) to migraines, cryptogenic stroke and decompression sickeness. There is an increased frequency of PFO in patients suffering from migraine – a frequency that almost parallels the presence of PFO in stroke.

MAP Pharmaceuticals Completes Interim Safety Review of LEVADEX(TM) Open-Label Safety Extension in More Than 400 Patients. MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — MAP Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: MAPP) today announced that it has completed a planned interim safety review of the open-label, long-term safety extension of the company’s Phase 3 FREEDOM 301 clinical trial with its LEVADEX(TM) orally inhaled migraine therapy.