Who Gets Migraine Headaches ?

A migraine is a throbbing or pulsating headache, usually on one side of the head, that is often associated with nausea; vomiting; sensitivity to light, sound, and smells; sleep disruption; and depression, (one can still be diagnosed with migraine without these symptoms). Attacks are often recurrent, and are two to three times more common in women.

During the 1980s, researchers found that the diagnosis of a migraine increased more than 55% in women, and that women in their 20s had the fastest increase in migraines as compared with any other age group. Overall, 15-20% of all men and 25-30% of women suffer with migraine headaches.

Every year an estimated 50 million Americans seek medical attention due to the pain of their headaches. Over 26 million people searched for powerful migraine headache treatment.

Annual treatment costs for migraine in America are over one billion dollars.

The average migraine sufferer loses 21 days out of their lives every year due to the pain of their migraines.

This means that migraine sufferers can lose all their vacation time and sick leave because they have to deal with their painful migraines. People who have severe migraines can experience temporary blindness, temporary paralysis and they may need to be confined to a darkened room for days at a time.

Migraines are often hereditary and can run in families. If one parent suffers from these, a child has a 50% chance of suffering these too. If both parents experience this, the child has a 75% chance of experiencing the same.
 

Dilation of Blood Vessels Is The Key

Migraine headaches are primarily caused by excessive dilation, or expansion, of blood vessels in the head. Many migraines come without warning. Some start with a visual "aura" before the onset of pain that can also include blurring or bright spots in the vision. Other symptoms indicating that a migraine is starting include anxiety, fatigue, disturbed thinking, and numbness or tingling on one side of the body. Migraine pain also occurs when the blood vessels and muscles lining the brain and scalp become stretched or tensed. Migraine pain seems to be connected to the instability of blood vessels in the brain and to a reduction in blood flow during a migraine attack. Research studies also indicate that in some migraine sufferers the control of blood vessel constriction and dilation is impaired.

Researchers have also found that in migraine sufferers, during and between migraine attacks, small blood cells, or platelets, do not behave normally. The purpose of the blood platelets is to aggregate, or to clump together, to form blood clots. In migraine sufferers, there is a significant increase in the spontaneous aggregation, or clumping, of blood platelets. This causes a reduction in the release of a brain chemical known as serotonin.

Serotonin Plays a Major Role

Serotonin aids in the chemical transfer of information from one cell to another. More importantly for migraine sufferers, serotonin plays a major role in the relaxation and the constriction of blood vessels. All of the serotonin in the blood is stored in the blood platelets. It is released by platelet aggregation. In migraine sufferers, this release appears to result in a serotonin deficiency.

Low serotonin levels are thought to lead to a decrease in the pain threshold of migraine patients. This concept is strongly supported by 35 years of research which show that increasing serotonin levels in the blood platelets leads to relief from chronic migraine headaches.

There are many factors that can cause migraines, and the following is a brief discussion of known "trigger foods".

Trigger foods are those that can bring on migraine attacks, though not every person is affected in the same way by the same foods. Outlined here are those foods that are known to be common triggers for migraines:

chocolate
caffeine
dairy products
peanuts, peanut butter
some beans (including lima, soy, peas)
yeast
nuts
sauerkraut
soy products
ripe bananas
avocados
aged cheeses
sourdough bread
anchovies
canned soups and packet soup mixes
Benzoic acid, (a preservative)
MSG, (monosodium glutamate, a commonly-used flavor enhancer)
sodium nitrate, (a preservative)
beer, champagne, red wine, vermouth

There are many other foods which may act as triggers to migraine attacks. To help avoid these headaches, a good rule to remember is to stay away from highly-processed and manufactured food products, which can be found in many of the foods listed above.

Food Allergies Linked to Blood Vessel Triggers

Food allergies also play a major role in migraine headaches. Foods such as chocolate, cheese, beer, red wine, and prescription medication can trigger migraine attacks in many people.

These attacks have been linked to histamines and other compounds that can trigger expansion in the blood vessels and cause that pounding, throbbing sensation.
 

Are you one of the 50 million Americans who seek headache cures or medical treatment for your migraines every year?

Do you or anyone you know ever need effective sinus headache relief?  How about stiff neck or shoulder pain?

If so, Dr. Jerry V. Teplitz has the solution for YOU!  Dr. Teplitz has rediscovered an easy yet proven effective hands-on Japanese pressure point pain relief massage technique called Shiatsu for getting rid of headache pain, migraines, sinus colds and stiff necks and shoulders that you can do on yourself, a friend or a loved one.
 

This Headache relief treatment will get rid of your pounding headache in only 90 seconds! It will get rid of a hangover in the same amount of time.

The Migraine treatment will give you pain relief and end your excruciating migraine pain in 5 minutes!

You can stop sinus colds on the same day they start!

You can even end stiff neck and sore shoulder pain!

BENEFITS from these natural techniques