Headaches come in more than 100 different forms, each with many subtypes and slightly varied symptoms.
Migraine attacks are more than just a simple headache, but many people think migraines are just a bad headache that everyone gets every now and then, so it's important to know the difference between headaches and migraines.
Migraine is the third most common disease in the world, after tooth decay and stress-induced headaches.
What is migraines?
About one in seven people suffer from this terrible condition, yet the rest of us assume it is just a bad headache.
According to Professor Peter Goadsby, professor of neurology, migraine is "an inherited tendency to develop headaches with sensory disorders. It's instability in the way the brain deals with incoming sensory information, and instability can be affected by physiological changes such as sleep, exercise and hunger."
What is the difference between headaches and migraines?
Migraines are a type of primary headache, but it is not the common headache that everyone suffers from.
Primary headaches account for 90% of all headaches, and migraines make up only 10% of these headaches.
Dr Sarah Brewer, Medical Director of Healthspan, said: "Stress headaches are usually mild to moderate intensity and are felt on both sides of the head. It usually results in constant pain rather than pulsating pain, often appearing like constant pressure, or a narrow bar above the top of the skull, above the back of the head, or above both eyes. It doesn't get worse because of physical activity such as walking, and there's no nausea." The most common and slight headache is tension headache, and 4% of all types of headaches are this type of headache.
Tension headaches can occur at any age and are thought to be caused by tension in the neck and scalp muscles that affect the flow of blood inside the skull.
On the other hand, unlike tension headaches, migraines are severe pain that is usually (but not always) worse on one side of the head, often concentrated around one eye.
"Most people with migraines (90%) have the form known as migraine without aura," Dr Brewer said. This results in severe headaches, pulsating palpitations, nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light and sound."
Migraines usually last without aura between four and 72 hours and are worse than physical activity.
"Migraines associated with aura are associated with visual symptoms such as flashing bright lights, strange zigzag shapes (reinforcement spectra) or blind spots."
What causes migraines?
Stress type headaches are caused by things like dehydration, stress and staring at screens, while migraines are more complicated.
The site adds: "The old theory about the cause of migraines included that migraines are basically a disease of blood vessels. It is now accepted that migraines are not associated with any vascular diseases and that brain mechanisms are likely to be involved in the development of migraine episodes." According to migraine trust, migraine is a disorder that has an almost certain genetic basis.
"Migraine symptoms usually start in adulthood and cause frequent episodes until middle age when they often disappear," Dr Brewer said.
She explained that although the cause was not fully understood, it might be associated with changes in the aneurysm and constriction of blood vessels so that some brain tissue would become congested.
"Some researchers believe that everyone has the ability to suffer from migraines, but those with symptoms have a lower threshold when a seizure occurs. This may relate to genetic differences, hormone levels (migraines are three times more common in women than men) and susceptibility to environmental factors including foods."
Dr. Brewer recommends knowing what causes migraines in a person by keeping headache notes.
"Often there's not a single reason, but there are many triggers that take you above the threshold to speed up the attack," she said.
Common triggers include:
- Lack of sleep
- Stress
- Avoid meals
- Fatigue
- Relaxation after stress (so-called weekend migraines)
- Some foods (within 6 hours of eating, such as chocolate, cheese, caffeine and alcohol)
- Intense emotions
Source: Express
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