Headache
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Migraine shares a complex and poorly understood relationship with sleep. Patients consistently report poor sleep prior to migraine attacks and during them, identifying poor sleep as a migraine trigger. However, anecdotally, sleep is reported to serve a therapeutic role in terminating headache. ⋯ We specifically focus on insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, parasomnias, sleep related movement disorders, and REM sleep related disorders and their relationship to migraine. Parts of brainstem-cortical networks involved in sleep physiology are unintentionally being identified as important factors in the common migraine pathway. Recent discoveries on anatomic localization (the hypothalamus as a key and early mediator in the pathophysiology of migraine), common mediating signaling molecules (such as serotonin and dopamine), and the discovery of a new CNS waste removal system, the glymphatic system, all point to a common pathophysiology manifesting in migraine and sleep problems.
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Comprehensive literature reviews of historical perspectives and evidence supporting cannabis/cannabinoids in the treatment of pain, including migraine and headache, with associated neurobiological mechanisms of pain modulation have been well described. Most of the existing literature reports on the cannabinoids Δ9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), or cannabis in general. There are many cannabis strains that vary widely in the composition of cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, and other compounds. These components work synergistically to produce wide variations in benefits, side effects, and strain characteristics. Knowledge of the individual medicinal properties of the cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids is necessary to cross-breed strains to obtain optimal standardized synergistic compositions. This will enable targeting individual symptoms and/or diseases, including migraine, headache, and pain. ⋯ There is accumulating evidence for various therapeutic benefits of cannabis/cannabinoids, especially in the treatment of pain, which may also apply to the treatment of migraine and headache. There is also supporting evidence that cannabis may assist in opioid detoxification and weaning, thus making it a potential weapon in battling the opioid epidemic. Cannabis science is a rapidly evolving medical sector and industry with increasingly regulated production standards. Further research is anticipated to optimize breeding of strain-specific synergistic ratios of cannabinoids, terpenes, and other phytochemicals for predictable user effects, characteristics, and improved symptom and disease-targeted therapies.
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To describe acute headache diagnoses in women presenting emergently in the postpartum period and to determine which factors may be associated with secondary vs primary headache. ⋯ Nearly three-quarters of postpartum women who present with acute onset headache and receiving neurological consultation are found to have a secondary headache - with nearly half of the secondary headaches attributed to PEC or cerebrovascular headache disorders. The absence of a headache history and a clear PDPH description should prompt strong consideration for neuroimaging to rule out cerebrovascular etiologies of headache as well as close monitoring for signs and symptoms of preeclampsia in women presenting with acute severe postpartum headache.
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Observational Study
Acceptance, Psychiatric Symptoms, and Migraine Disability: An Observational Study in a Headache Center.
To evaluate relationships between psychiatric symptoms, acceptance, and migraine-related disability in a sample of people with migraine presenting at a tertiary care headache center. ⋯ Results provided preliminary support for a theoretical pathway by which psychiatric symptoms may influence migraine-related disability, in part, through their relationships with pain willingness and activity engagement.