The Latest Treatment for Migraines :: Health Medical Headaches Essays

The Latest Treatment for Migraines Headaches are among the most common health complaints today. According to the National Headache Foundation in Chicago, 45 million Americans suffer from recurring headaches—16 to 18 million of which are migraines (1). Migraines are vascular headaches because they involve the swelling of the brain's blood vessels (2). The occurrence of migraine headaches, contrary to popular belief, is a disease. If you suffer from migraines you might be used to people comparing your migraine to a headache or trying to blame these "headaches" on you and your lifestyle. However, migraines are caused by the expansion of blood vessels whereas regular headaches area caused by the constriction of blood vessels. Although certain things such as harsh lighting, movement, or chocolate may trigger a migraine, the actual cause of this vessel swelling is unknown and may vary from person to person. Currently, there is no cure for migraine (3). One theory as to the cause of migraines lies in excitement of the nervous system caused by stress, anxiety, or some unknown (4). A more recent form of treatment known as neurobiofeedback actually works by allowing patients to train their brains to function at a more relaxed mental state. The success of this treatment may indicate that increased neuron activity is one of the more common causes of migraines. Neurobiofeedback has been identified as successful for migraines precipitated by PMS, food allergies, or stress. It is not clear exactly how food allergies are related to increased nerve activity. Stress, however, regardless of the type, seems to be strongly correlated with migraines as it will determine the severity of the headache. Neurobiofeedback goes to the root of this problem and, as a result, is one of the more preferred methods of treatment (5). Biofeedback, in general, is a technique in which the body's responses to specific stimuli are measured in order to give patients knowledge about how they physically react to various events. In the case of headaches, patients can condition their mind or body to react differently to pre-headache symptoms and prevent a headache from occurring (1). Neurobio or electroencephalogram (EEG) feedback, specifically, measures brain wave activity and feeds back to a patient their own brain wave patterns so that they can modify these patterns through game-like computer simulations (6). Why does this work? Brain waves are recordings of electrical changes in the brain.