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Migraines Bad weather can make people headache
Migraine is now one of the common diseases and affects in this country alone six to eight million people. Thus, it is one of the common pain disorders, which leads to massive impairments of quality of life and failures in social and professional life. But there are several ways to treat a migraine. At the autumn symposium of Migraine league e.V on 17 September in Potsdam, experts will inform about new forms of therapy and prevention options. It also discusses the question of what influence the weather has on the disease.
Headaches are accompanied by dizziness and blurred vision
Almost one in ten suffers from migraine. It is a type of headache that occurs as a seizure and is associated with a number of other conditions, such as headache. Dizziness, blurred vision, nausea and vomiting are accompanied. These often occur in such a strong form that those affected are completely "off" during an attack and can not participate in normal daily life for hours or even days. In part, during a seizure, the only option is to lie in a darkened room and wait for the pain to recede. Accordingly, a migraine means a huge reduction in the quality of life, the World Health Organization (WHO) even puts it in 19th place among all diseases that cause disabilities.
The weather can favor migraine attacks. Image: diego cervo - fotolia Antidepressants and beta-blockers for prevention
Painkillers alone are in most cases not sufficient and sometimes even unsuitable. Those who take them too often risk amplifying the hypersensitivity of the brain and thereby more frequent pain attacks. Often, therefore, patients are given medications for the prevention of migraine, such as migraine. Beta-blockers, valproic acid and topiramate, as well as certain antidepressants such as amitriptyline are used for prophylaxis.
The migraine brain can not shut down properly
Experts believe that the predisposition to the disease is primarily hereditary. "What distinguishes the migraine brain from the normal brain is the difficulty of switching it off," says Charly Gaul, chief physician at the migraine and headache clinic in Königstein to the "dpa". "You are like a dog that has always set an ear - they get a lot more with." This will bring the brain faster to the limit, explains the physician. "If you ask a migraine sufferer, what's your biggest weakness? Then he would say perfectionism. "
Certain triggers release messenger substances and create electrical stimuli: "These trigger a cascade of pain, changes to the vessels and also inflammation-like processes," explains Gaul. The brain of affected persons is particularly sensitive to changes of any kind, be it e.g. in the diet, in the fluid balance of the body or in sleep and wakefulness. This can be seen, for example, in Stefanie Förderreuther, a doctor and general secretary of the German Migraine and Headache Society, adds to the phenomenon of the so-called "weekend migraine", which starts when patients want to rest after a tiring week.
Temperature change or rising thunderstorm felt hours before
The weather is often discussed as a so-called "trigger". Affected, such as the head of the migraine league, Lucia Gnant, often feel a change hours ago and can feel a change in temperature or a gathering thunderstorm clearly. Patients would put the situation in a nutshell by saying, "Something is brewing in my head," explains migraine leader Gnant in an interview with the "dpa". Scientifically proved the influence of the weather is not yet.
Also on the autumn symposium of Migraine league e.V. on 17 September in Potsdam, experts are concerned with the question of how the weather plays a role as a trigger factor. "People with chronic illnesses are sensitive to certain weather conditions," says biologist Holger Westermann of the "Menschenwetter-Redaktion" to the news agency. However, whoever reacts to which stimuli can be very different: "What harms the asthmatic can do the rheumatist good."
Researchers find indications of a connection with weather changes
Researchers at the University of Applied Sciences Hof are also working with colleagues at the Migraine and Headache Clinic Königstein and the University of Rostock to investigate the causes of the disease. Since 2011, they have been evaluating factors that can trigger migraine attacks based on online patient reports, as well as evaluating the correlation with weather changes. "We have information from the first project phase," says Project Manager Jörg Scheidt. By comparing 20,000 headache attacks, the scientists came to an interesting conclusion: "If the temperature changes by five degrees, we have 20 percent more seizures," continued Jörg Scheidt.
Endurance sports and relaxation methods for hardening against external influences
According to the experts, the results were "not yet certain and statistically not very significant". Therefore, in an additional project phase anonymously, the corresponding persons behind the data are to be considered more closely. Because the researchers assume that only certain patients are sensitive to the weather. Chief physician Gaul agrees: "Of course we can not change the weather. But patients may be motivated to take preventative treatment, endurance sports, and relaxation procedures to make them less sensitive to these external influences, "explains the physician.
Even the 65-year-old Lucia Gnant has changed in addition to taking medication some things in their lives to better deal with the disease. In addition to a regular daily routine and a conscious diet, she also helps avoiding "unnecessary ballast," reports the person concerned. She suffers from a special form of migraine with aura, through which she experiences deficits in speech, vision and motor disorders as well as sensations of measurement. "This can be dangerous if it occurs when I drive a car". After 40 years of suffering, however, the changes in everyday life have paid off: "On July 7, 2010 was my last attack. It's the way out of migraine. But the person concerned essentially has to do it himself. "(Nr)