Menstrual Migraine New Treatment Option

Main Category: Headache / Migraine
Article Date: 02 Aug 2004 - 11:00 PDT


Nearly one in five adult women experience migraine headaches compared with one in 20 adult men. Menstrual migraine is when the headache happens around the same time as menstruation each month. Many women claim they get a migraine each month when they menstruate, now a new study confirms this happens.

Researchers analyzed data from 155 female patients to look at menstrual migraines.Their research shows that in the five days before menstruation, women were 25-percent more likely to have a migraine, and a migraine was 71-percent more likely to happen during the two days before menstruation. Women were also more likely to have a migraine associated with vomiting during menstruation.

In another study, researchers studied the use of the drug frovatriptan, also known as Frova, in the prevention of menstrual migraines. For the study, they included 443 patients. The patients were randomly assigned to placebo, frovatriptan once a day, or frovatriptan twice a day. They took the drug for six days beginning two days before the start of menstruation.

Researchers report 67 percent of those on placebo had a migraine, 52 percent of those on the drug once a day had a migraine, and 41 percent of those on the drug twice a day had a migraine. The drug also seemed to reduce migraine severity, duration and the use of other medications.

Thus researchers say this treatment seems to be effective for those who suffer from menstrual migraines.

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