Migraine Awareness Week - 4th-10th September

Today is the start of Migraine Awareness Week (4-10 September). The week aims to raise awareness of this misunderstood condition and encourages those affected to seek information and advice to help manage their migraines.

What are migraines?

Migraines are severe headaches, which affect one in four women and one in twelve men, acquainting to 15% of adults in the UK. They are described as a sharp throbbing pain at the front or on one side of the head.

Migraines can be a totally disabling ailment that can render the sufferer incapable of performing even the most basic daily tasks. Some people may only suffer from migraines occasionally, while others may have several in one week.

Did you know?

• - 1 in 7 people in the UK suffer from migraine.
• - Migraine affects three times as many women as men.
• - Migraine affects people from all age groups (even young children) and all social classes.
• - The World Health Organisation has classified headache as a major health disorder and has rated migraine amongst the top 20 most disabling lifetime conditions.
• - A migraine attack can last for between 4 and 72 hours.
• - Sufferers experience an average of 13 attacks each year.
• - Migraine is more than just a headache. Other symptoms can include: visual disturbances (flashing lights, blind spots in the vision, zig zag patterns etc.), nausea and vomiting, sensitivity to light (photophobia), sensitivity to noise (phonophobia), sensitivity to smells (osmophobia) and tingling / pins and needles / weakness / numbness in the limbs.
• - Around 60% of sufferers never consult their GP because they mistakenly think that nothing can be done to help them. There is a wide range of effective treatments now available including new products introduced during the past year.
• - Migraine is triggered by a huge variety of factors not just cheese, chocolate and red wine! For most people there is not just one trigger but a combination of factors which individually can be tolerated but when they all occur together a threshold is passed and a migraine is triggered.

For more information, help and advice, we recommend visiting:

http://www.migrainetrust.org/

http://www.migraine.org.uk/

* Facts and figures from http://www.migrainetrust.org/