Health & Wellbeing: Migraine Symptoms

Migraine Symptoms

Migraine is a kind of very painful headache which often commences in early childhood to teenage years and sometimes runs in families. They usually affect one side of the head and sufferers say they can be affected anywhere from four hours to those that last for two days or more if left untreated. Even when the headache has finally left the victim is still left exhausted and unable to perform properly for some time.

The frequency of occurrences can vary and one can suffer from it once or several times in a month or only one in a year. Some migraine symptoms seem to be consistent with most victims; those of a feeling like those associated with cold or influenza and a problem with bright lights. Migraine attacks only seem to affect people within a certain age range, just before puberty and stop by the time the person has reached about 40; almost no cases are recorded after the age of 50.

Whilst family groups are known to share attacks, so far there has been a problem finding a genetic trait that links certain family members to migraines; whilst genetic factors may be involved, this link has yet to be proved. There seems to be a common connection amongst sufferers where blood vessels and nerve endings near the brain, swell. There are three women to each man that suffer with this condition; one in every 4 women will be a victim of it, whilst only 1 in 12 men will suffer with it at some point in their life.

One of the signs - migraine with aura, is characterized by an unusual sensation (aura) that is in occurrence 10 to 30 minutes prior to the head pain. There are many indications this may happen which will vary between sufferers which can be one or more of the following:

Nausea is very common
Problems with vision
Sense of smell and taste is affected
Difficulty with verbal skills

other symptoms exist but these appear to be the most common. Migraine sufferers who do not have any warning are said to have attack without aura but still suffer extreme pain; this also includes nausea which can be aggravated by movement, noise and light which is the reason most sufferers lie quietly on a bed in a darkened room.

Whilst the exact reason why some people suffer with migraine still eludes medical science, the theory that the narrowing of blood vessels to the brain is the closest they have come to discovering a migraines cause. It might be that it is the expansion of the blood vessels afterwards that causes the headache; however, all suffers say the attack knocks them out and they are unable to carry out even the most simple of daily tasks. There are many factors that can trigger an attack ranging from: