what causes migraines and how come we haven’t developed a cure for them yet?
In: 90
Quite a complicated question.
Current theory (at least as I was taught in Pharmacy school, might be outdated) is that the blood vessels in your head will shrink (for various reasons, dehydration, coffee, medication, unknown reason..) and then suddenly you won’t get enough blood and the blood vessels will open up wide as a ” reaction ” (that’s very simplified but mostly the Idea. Your body regulates your blood vessel’s size to adjust the amount of blood flowing in one place, but sometimes is a bit brutal doing so)
When the blood vessels increase in size for too long, it will cause inflammation, and pain. That’s the theory.
Since the cause is an extremely delicate balance between “opening” molecules and “shrinking” molecules, and the reason of balance loss is mostly unknown, it cannot, atm, be cured totally cured.
Appart from painkiller and anti inflammatory meds (ibuprofen, paracetamol) , there is a specific class of anti migrain meds : triptans. They won’t force the vessels to shut down (that would only trigger your body to re-open them) but will fixate on the same receptors as natural “open up* molecules, without activating them, thus limiting the vessel’s widening and pain.
That’s the best of my knowledge but I had this course 6-7 years ago so some thing might have changed/be studied since, and new medication might have hit the market 🙂
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