More than 3.5 million people suffer from migraine in Spain, according to data from the SEN.

-In the coming months botulinum toxin begin to generalize as therapy for cases more rebels of chronic migraine

– contrary to popular belief, it is not advisable to prohibit long lists of food migraine patients, only those that each patient has in particular identified as a generator of crisis should be avoided

Spain, 2011-September the next day, September 12 is celebrated the European day of action against the migraine, a neurological disease that affects more than 3.5 million people in Spain, according to data from the Spanish Neurology Society (SEN). Migraine is considered by the who as one of the 20 diseases more disabling because during the crisis, patients feel truly concerned with inability to carry out any task, either labour, social or family. Despite this, 20-25% of patients who suffer from migraine has never consulted his illness with the doctor and one even larger percentage (50%) leaves the follow-up after the first consultation.

Is key to diagnose cases of migraine properly, given that an inappropriate remedy could be to cronificar the problem ”, says Dr. Samuel Díaz Insa, Coordinator of the Group of study of headaches of the society Spanish of Neurology. when this occurs, there are patients who come to suffer more than 15 days a month of headache. In these cases the quality of life is ostensibly diminished, and in some cases they are associated with depression and even abuse of use of painkillers or other medications. In addition, in recent years, found that some variants of migraine, especially those patients with aura preceding attacks, have a slight increase in their cardiovascular risk. For this reason, these cases should be necessarily valued and followed by a neurologist ”.

The prevalence of migraine is 12-13%. But for women the figures rise to 17-18%. Both men and women, emotional stress is the trigger for more frequent crises. Others are: the lack or excess of dream, atmospheric changes, travel and even the intake of certain foods and beverages.

Lead a regulated life with good rhythm of sleep, frequent exercise and a balanced diet helps to suffer fewer migraine attacks ”, explains Dr. Samuel Díaz Insa. however, it is not advisable to prohibit patients long lists of foods or beverages that may cause a migraine crisis only in cases in which patients recognize that a certain food produce them migraine, it should be avoided. The exception may be alcohol, especially if it contains bubbles (carbonic acid) is recognized by the majority of migraine patients as a great crisis trigger ”.

There is a wide variety of truly useful treatments for chopping the migraine crises. The main advance was the development of the triptanes, since they were the first truly selective drugs for symptomatic treatment, although years without the emergence of new molecules. Something similar happens with the preventive treatments: from the commercialization of the recent neuromodulators investigated for this purpose there has been no progress. But if there has been progress in the field of Transcutaneous nerve and other interventionist techniques ”, points out Dr. Samuel Díaz Insa. In this sense is envisaged that, at the end of the year, adopt the use of botulinum toxin for the treatment of chronic migraine.

Although, traditionally, to migraine not has been given the importance that really deserves that, generally speaking, it poses no threat to the lives of patients, it represents a significant loss in quality of life.

Must flee the clichés that subvaloran disorders suffered by patients with headache. Nothing pleasant is feel pain, feel pulsatil in the brain, the great discomfort to sounds or minimum luminous stimuli or a nauseous feeling unbearable. Migraine is much more that a simple headache, is a disease with far-reaching social and labour and that it may be really serious complications in its evolution and management ”, says Dr. Samuel Díaz Insa.

From the point of view of social and labour implications, migraine involves the loss of between 8 to 16 working days per year on average per patient, which means an annual cost of nearly EUR 2 billion – if both estimated direct costs such as indirect products of absenteeism and low productivity in the workplace – and a cost estimated by active patient of 730 euros per year.