Why migraines are still a big mystery for science, affecting more women?



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Very widespread especially among women, these intense headaches are still a great medical mystery whose causes are unclear.

Migraines are always badociated with a "simple headache", but they go further. While "normal" headaches can usually occur with a paracetamol or two, a migraine is more aggressive, sometimes enough to seriously impair the physical and mental abilities of the victim, as well as affect their daily lives. The most mysterious is that it has no known cause or fixed treatment but that it is always attributed to reasons related to hormones or abnormal brain activity.

The disorder significantly affects women (one in five) unlike men, who suffer only one in 15. This also lacks a definitive explanation, although a study by the University of Arizona in male and female rats suggests that this could be due to the relationship between higher levels of estrogen and lower levels of the sodium proton exchanger NHE1. However, this big medical issue is also increased by the fact that migraines are one of the diseases for which less funding is allocated.

Most animal studies have been done on male specimens, despite our findings, we can say that women are more susceptible to migraines because fluctuations in the bad hormone of Larger magnitude lead to changes in the expression of NHE1, "says Emily Galloway, one of the authors of the study.Despite the huge economic costs to the population when it comes to acquire drugs, scientists still receive the least public funding to investigate this disease as any neurological disease in Europe.

A little history


This n & # 39; It is not that it is one of those typical diseases of the modern world.Magraine headaches have a great history behind, being one of the oldest recorded diseases.Already in the Egyptian writings of 1200 BC are detailed pain badociated with the head: the Greek philosopher Hippocrates wrote about visual disturbances and vomiting commonly badociated with migraines. However, his discovery is attributed to the ancient Greek physician Areteo of Cappadocia, who accurately described his symptoms in the second century. In fact, the word "migraña" derives from the Latin word "hemicránea", which means "medio cráneo".


It can not be denied that there is a link between migraine and mental health. Many studies have linked the disease to a wide variety of psychiatric disorders. A 2016 study found high correlation rates with bipolar disorder; another survey, that those who suffer from them are more than twice as likely to develop a generalized anxiety disorder (GAD); Finally, it is known that people with depression are three times more likely to suffer headache attacks.


"Many neurology experts consider migraine as a benign disease, it is not cancer, nor Parkinson's disease," says Messoud Ashina, professor of neurology. "But if we look at its public impact and personal, it's a big problem. "


Source: El Confidencial

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