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HeadWay Issue #231 - More on Those "in between attacks" Symptoms
June 24, 2024

Hi!

In this issue:

New at Headache and Migraine News

*An Important Note from James

More on Those "in between attacks" Symptoms

We've talked a lot about "interictal" migraine symptoms. That is, migraine symptoms that may affect you all the time - specifically in between migraine attacks.

As terrible as a migraine attack may be, migraine actually affects all of life. For many, pain, sensitivity to light, and other symptoms persist even when there's no headache.

A recent study published in the Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology focused specifically on what we would call "brain" or "thinking" symptoms.

What types of symptoms did they find?

First there was the Mini-Mental State Examination, which doctors sometimes use to get a general idea of cognitive impairment. The good news was that migraine patients did fine on this test.

However, when researchers tried other tests, they did find that some impairment in migraine patients was common, including:

Attention: The ability to focus in on specific information.
Vigilance: This is the ability to continue paying attention - the ability to concentrate for a time on a subject.
Executive Functions: This refers to the way you control your actions - planning, organizing, self-control, prioritizing.

So this study goes a little beyond "fuzzy thinking" and identifies certain struggles that migraine patients may have.

It should also be noted that these were not patients who were taking preventative medications, or patients who were considered to be overusing medications.

Raising awareness about how migraine affects all of life is obviously important for a number of reasons. But one reason is treatment.

If patients and their doctors see migraine as only a "once in a while" problem - if they're not aware of persistant disabilities - they may be less likely to take treatment seriously.

In the case of this study, the good news was that these brain symptoms significantly improved when patients tried a preventative medication.

But whatever treatment you try - including improving daily habits such as what you eat and how often you exercise outside - should bring improvement to overall health.

To read the study abstract, check out the link below:
Interictal Dysfunctions of Attention, Vigilance, and Executive Functions in Migraine and Their Reversal by Preventive Treatment: A longitudinal Controlled Study

New at Headache and Migraine News

In case you missed them, here are a few new articles at Headache and Migraine News:

*An Important Note from James

Since you already had some definitions about, I'm taking over the normal Say what?! section for a personal message!

I'll be taking a break from HeadWay over the summer, due to some family and work issues that have come up. You'll also notice that I'll be blogging less, and posting a little less on Facebook and X ..

I'll try to keep you informed when I can!

And for those who express their concern/interest once in a while (thanks!), everything is fine here - just busy.

Be sure to stay in touch on social media, and remember that there are over 2000 articles to check out at Headache and Migraine News - with more coming, God willing!

You can even check out a random post if you like.

I'll sign off wishing you all a healthy summer! And I won't be gone - just a little quieter. :)

Thanks for reading! Remember, if you have feedback or ideas for future issues, visit the HeadWay MailRoom. Your password is nomoache.

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