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Topic: Results of new Migraine Study (Read 342 times) |
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Mac
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Results of new Migraine Study
« on: Jan 30th, 2004, 12:40pm » |
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Hi everybody. This article appeared in my paper a couple of days ago and I thought it was pertinent to us. Take it for what it's worth I guess. Sorry for the incomplete article in the first post. Don't know what happened 
From the Ottawa Citizen reprinted in the Edmonton Journal
Migraines are more than headaches, they damage brains - new study
Migraines can kill people's brain tissue and leave permanent physical changes there, say Dutch and U.S. doctors who want the overpowering headaches
redefined as a progressive disease.
The discovery that people with migraines have more of these dead or altered areas than migraine free people surprised the researchers, who thought
the headaches left no scars.
"It changes the common perception that migraines are trivial problems with transient symptoms," said Dr. Lenore Launer, lead author of a new study and
neurologist at the U.S. National Institute on Aging. "Right now people feel there's an attack and you endure it or treat it, and then it's over."
Migraines were found to cause two kinds of damage, though only in a minority of sufferers - a little more than ten per cent.
In some people they cause infarctions - areas where a small blood clot blocks a blood vessel, killing the brain tissue around it.
The other brain changes are more of a mystery. an affect known for years as an "unidentified bright object" among people who did MRI scans of the
brain, because it shows up on the scan as a bright area. It's now called a white matter lesion.
The effect covers a spread-out area. It is probably caused by a lack of nutrients to cells in that area of the brain.
"In fact these are not innocuous," Launer said.
"They're thought in older people to make them subject to cognitive impairment, and to some physical impairment...people wiht these may not be able to
walk as fast."
Women who suffered migraines once a month or more were 2 1/2 times mor likely to have these lesions than women without migraines.
The study involved 435 Dutch men and women aged 30 to 60. Two-thirds of them suffered migraines. The rest were studied for comparison.
Infarctions were found in 31 of the patients, mainly migraine sufferers, Launer said. The dead areas range from two millimetres wide to more than two
centimetres. They were seven times more common in people with migraines than in others, and 13 times more common among those with "aura"
migraines, which include visual disturbances.
However, psychological tests found the people with these dead brain areas didn't appear to suffer any loss of ability to think or move their bodies. Launer
said she hopes to examine that question.
Both effects were more common in women and in people with migraines more than once a month.
CanWest News Service
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| « Last Edit: Jan 30th, 2004, 6:17pm by Mac » |
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athos
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Re: Results of new Migraine Study
« Reply #1 on: Jan 30th, 2004, 3:55pm » |
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That is very interesting....
I wonder how significant this is to CH and to CCH.... If all I have is scar tissue up there...
Damn....
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floridian
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Re: Results of new Migraine Study
« Reply #2 on: Jan 30th, 2004, 4:27pm » |
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Maybe we are luckier than migraneurs - the trigeminal nerve where the pain originates is outside the brain. But I think clusters can cause permanent damage to these nerves - the drooping eyelid or difficulty in focusing the painful eye can become permanent in some. And we do know that the hypothalamus becomes anatomically unusual during a cycle.
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Lizzie2
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Re: Results of new Migraine Study
« Reply #3 on: Jan 30th, 2004, 5:16pm » |
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I had an MRI done on New Year's Day while I was inpatient at Jefferson, and here's the results they found. I have no clue what they mean as this is out of my clinical realm of knowledge, but I thought it interesting after reading this post.
Technique: This MR study consists of multiple sagittal, axial and coronal images of the brain utilizing T1, diffusion and T2 weighted pulse sequences.
Contrast administration: Contrast was administered.
Findings: There is no evidence of intra-axial or extra-axial hemmorhage. No midline shift or mass-effect is demonstrated. The ventricular system is normal in size and configuration. There are scattered foci of abnormal high signal intensity in the subcortical white matter of both frontal lobes. There is relative absence of periventricular white matter lesions. Following infusion of contrast material, there are no areas of abnormal parenchymal enhancement.
Diagnosis: Nonspecific white matter changes as described. Differential considerations include infectious, inflammatory or atypical demyelinating process.
Recommendations: None.
Consultation: Findings discussed with neurology.
~~~~~
In the end, on my chart it states that the MRI was normal. Interesting to me...now I want to know what it all means! 
~Lizzie
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Mac
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Re: Results of new Migraine Study
« Reply #4 on: Jan 30th, 2004, 6:06pm » |
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That's good to know Chronic My intention was to inform people not worry them. Clusters are so much different in the way they manifest themselves. They also pointed out in the article that the white lesions didn't seem to affect the person in any discernable way.
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| « Last Edit: Jan 30th, 2004, 6:12pm by Mac » |
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Mac
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Re: Results of new Migraine Study
« Reply #5 on: Jan 30th, 2004, 6:22pm » |
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For some reason the first time I posted the article the whole thing didn't post. It's posted correctly now. 
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jadedgazer
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This isn't life threatening, just life altering
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Re: Results of new Migraine Study
« Reply #6 on: Jan 30th, 2004, 10:10pm » |
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I could be wrong here...so don't bite my head off
But...the "white matter lesions" the article speaks of sounds awfully similar to the scarring that MS patients find in their MRIs. I say this because my hubby, as some of you know, has MS and that is what shows up on his MRIs..."white matter lesions and sclerosis...", which basically translates to scarring on the brain and brain stem in his particular case.
Just thought I would throw that in there.
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Jackie S.
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