Migraine Headaches

Sometimes preceded by warning symptoms of flashes of light, blind spots, arm and leg tingling or weakness, migraine is a severe and painful headache. The terrible pain that a migraine brings can last for hour’s sometimes even days.

Patients with recurring headaches should consult a doctor including children. Based on the medical history and physical examination, the diagnosis could be made. With that said, there are no blood tests or imaging techniques used to diagnose migraine headaches.  However, blood tests and imaging techniques are ordered at times to look for other diseases that could cause headaches if there is a suspicion for them.

Some patients who suffer from migraines can clearly make out triggers or factors that cause the headaches. Following are some of the potential migraine triggers:

1) Physical or emotional stress

2) Fasting or Skipping meals

3) Allergies and allergic reactions

4) Smoking or exposure to smoke

5) Alcohol

6) Bright lights, loud noises, and certain odors or perfumes

7) irregular sleep or changes in sleep patterns

8) Menstrual cycle fluctuations, birth control pills, hormone fluctuations during menopause onset

9) Sometimes even food habits can cause migraine foods containing tyramine (red wine, aged cheese, smoked fish, chicken livers, figs, and some beans), monosodium glutamate (MSG), or nitrates (like bacon, hot dogs, and salami)

10) Some of the other food items that cause migraines are chocolates, nuts, peanut butter, avocado, banana, citrus, onions, dairy products, and fermented or pickled foods.

Not all patients will have the same triggers. Each patient has to see which specific triggers cause their headaches. 

Migraine Diagnosis:

There are no specific diagnostic tests that need to be done for migraines if the diagnosis is certain. However there are tests that are done if there is a suspicion that the cause of the headache is from another source and it includes the following:

1) Blood tests

2) Computerized tomography scan (CT)

3) Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

4) Spinal tap

Tumors, aneurysms, and infections of the brain and toxins in the body can be a cause of headaches. If there is suspicion that the headaches are from one of these causes, then a workup is required.

MS may not be directly inherited, but genetics do play a key role in someone developing the ailment. In families in which many members are diagnosed with MS, the risk may increase. But it is also a fact that many people diagnosed with MS do not have a family history of the condition.

While the rate of MS within families indicates there is a genetic factor involved in acquiring MS, studies of identical twins show that genes are not always that important. An Australian study published in 2013 concluded that in families where one member was already diagnosed with MS, then the risk factor was higher for more closely related members. Although medical researchers are still unsure, most of them are of the opinion that an individual's own immune system attacks the myelin in the same manner one's immune system attacks a virus or bacteria.

It is unlikely there is just a single cause for developing MS, but rather MS is triggered by multiple factors. Certain sections of medical opinion consider viruses, such as Epstein-Barr (mononucleosis), varicella zoster, as possible MS triggers -though this theory has still not been scientifically validated.

The presence of MS varies according to geographical area and population groups. The incidences of MS are higher the further away you live from the equator. The inference is that exposure to sunlight enhances MS risk.There is no known cure for multiple sclerosis. Treatments attempt to prevent new attacks and prevent disability.

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