The most common type of vascular headache is migraine. Migraine headaches are usually characterized by severe pain on one or both sides of the head, an upset stomach, and disturbed vision. While migraines affect both men and women, severe migraine is more prevalent in women.
The exact cause of migraine remains a mystery. Researchers hypothesize that migraine results from blood flow changes in the brain, resulting from abnormal electrical stimulation of neurons.
Migraines affect 28 million Americans and three-quarters are women. Despite the preponderance of migraines, they are not considered medical conditions in many circles. But in terms of missed work and disability, migraines may cost the United States $13 billion annually.
Migraine is considered a genetic disorder, though the causes are unknown. Triggers include hormonal changes in women, exposure to light, lack of food, and lack of sleep.
The major difference between the two types is the appearance of neurological symptoms 10 to 30 minutes before a classic migraine attack. These symptoms are called an aura. The person may see flashing lights or zigzag lines, or may temporarily lose vision. Other classic symptoms include speech difficulty, weakness of an arm or leg, tingling of the face or hands, and confusion.
The pain of a classic migraine headache is described as intense, throbbing, or pounding and is felt in the forehead, temple, ear, jaw, or around the eye. Classic migraine starts on one side of the head but may eventually spread to the other side. An attack lasts one to two pain-wracked days.
The common migraine - a term that reflects the disorder's greater occurrence in the general population - is not preceded by an aura. But some people experience a variety of vague symptoms beforehand, including mental fuzziness, mood changes, fatigue, and unusual retention of fluids. During the headache phase of a common migraine, a person may have diarrhea and increased urination, as well as nausea and vomiting. Common migraine pain can last three or four days.
The relationship between female hormones and migraine is still unclear. Women may have "menstrual migraine" headaches around the time of their menstrual period, which may disappear during pregnancy. Other women develop migraine for the first time when they are pregnant or undergoing menopause.
In addition to classic and common, migraine headache can take several other forms: Patients with hemiplegic migraine have temporary paralysis on one side of the body, a condition known as hemiplegia. Some people may experience vision problems and vertigo, a feeling that the world is spinning. These symptoms begin 10 to 90 minutes before the onset of headache pain.
In ophthalmoplegic migraine, the pain is around the eye and is associated with a droopy eyelid, double vision, and other sight problems. Basilar artery migraine involves a disturbance of a major brain artery. Pre-headache symptoms include vertigo, double vision and poor muscular coordination. This type of migraine occurs primarily in adolescent and young adult women and is often associated with the menstrual cycle. Running, lifting, coughing, sneezing or bending brings on benign exertional headache. The headache begins at the onset of activity, and pain rarely lasts more than several minutes.
Status migrainosus is a rare and severe type of migraine that can last 72 hours or longer. The pain and nausea are so intense that people who have this type of headache must be hospitalized. The use of certain drugs can trigger status migrainosus. Neurologists report that many of their status migrainosus patients were depressed and anxious before they experienced headache attacks.
Headache-free migraine is characterized by such migraine symptoms as visual problems, nausea, vomiting, constipation, or diarrhea. Patients, however, do not experience head pain. Headache specialists have suggested that unexplained pain in a partic
