Headache
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Topiramate improves health-related quality of life when used to prevent migraine.
To assess changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measures among patients receiving topiramate (TPM) 100 mg/d in two divided doses for migraine prevention in three randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 26-week trials with similar protocols and study populations. ⋯ TPM 100 mg/d has been shown to be effective in the prevention of migraine headache in adults. As the MSQ results from the three randomized, placebo-controlled trials indicate, HRQoL is significantly improved for up to 6 months following initiation of treatment.
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Comparative Study
Pain thresholds in daily transformed migraine versus episodic migraine headache patients.
The objective of this study was to test whether pain thresholds of patients with episodic migraine (EM) are significantly different from transformed migraine (TM) patients as measured by Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) and Semmes-Weinstein Monofilaments (SW). ⋯ TM patients, clinically known to report skin hypersensitivity during migraine, were found to have lower pain thresholds than EM patients, both with severe migraine, and at baseline, measured by QST and SW mechanical testing. As with Burstein's work in EM patients with lowered pain thresholds during their acute migraine, central sensitization may be the explanation for non-responsiveness to triptans in a high proportion of TM patients. The difference in pain threshold at the neck location was such a strikingly frequent difference between EM and TM patients, that this indicates the need for future research to clarify the directional relationship and the relative importance of muscular versus peripheral versus central hypersensitivity in the determination of allodynia.
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To evaluate the prevalence of associated headache (HA) pain with craniocervical dystonia and the therapeutic effect of BoNT-A injections on the HA component when injected for cervical dystonia. ⋯ BoNT-A safely improves headache associated with craniocervical dystonia when administered for the primary condition of craniocervical dystonia.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine versus sumatriptan succinate in the early treatment of migraine: results from the ASSET trial.
To address the need for a rigorous, direct comparison of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) migraine drugs and to expand the database on early treatment of migraine. ⋯ The combination of acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine was significantly more effective (P > .05) than sumatriptan in the early treatment of migraine, as shown by superiority in summed pain intensity difference, pain relief, pain intensity difference, response, sustained response, relief of associated symptoms, use of rescue medication, disability relief, and global assessments of effectiveness. An additional, larger clinical trial is needed to confirm these results.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Sumatriptan and naproxen sodium for the acute treatment of migraine.
To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of treatment with a combination of sumatriptan 50 mg (encapsulated) and naproxen sodium 500 mg administered concurrently in the acute treatment of migraine. ⋯ This is among the first prospective studies to demonstrate that multi-mechanism acute therapy for migraine, combining a triptan and an analgesic, is well tolerated and offers improved clinical benefits over monotherapy with these selected standard antimigraine treatments. Specifically, sumatriptan 50 mg (encapsulated) and naproxen sodium 500 mg resulted in significantly superior pain relief as compared to monotherapy with either sumatriptan 50 mg (encapsulated) or naproxen sodium 500 mg for the acute treatment of migraine. Because encapsulation of the sumatriptan for blinding purposes may have altered its pharmacokinetic profile and thereby decreased the efficacy responses, additional studies are warranted that do not involve encapsulation of the active treatments and assess the true onset of action of multi-mechanism therapy in migraine. This study did show that the combination of sumatriptan and naproxen sodium was well tolerated and that there was no significant increase in the incidence of adverse events compared to monotherapy.