An estimated 38 percent of patients who have migraines need preventive treatment, but only about one-third of them use it, according to study reported in Pain Medicine News.
Candidates for prevention include individuals with frequent migraine attacks, recurring headaches, persistent migraines, migraines associated with neurologic symptoms and those who overuse migraine medications.
"Why do only a minority of patients who can benefit from preventive treatments use them? This is typically due to one of three reasons: They are not diagnosed with migraines; they have been given a medication that does not work; or they have been given inadequate doses of a medication that is effective," said Stephen D. Silberstein, MD, professor of neurology at Jefferson Headache Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting.
Several drugs and complementary medications have been deemed effective for the prevention of migraine headaches by updated guidelines from the AAN and the American Headache Society. Published in the April 24 issue of Neurology, the guidelines address prescription and over-the-counter medications.
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Candidates for prevention include individuals with frequent migraine attacks, recurring headaches, persistent migraines, migraines associated with neurologic symptoms and those who overuse migraine medications.
"Why do only a minority of patients who can benefit from preventive treatments use them? This is typically due to one of three reasons: They are not diagnosed with migraines; they have been given a medication that does not work; or they have been given inadequate doses of a medication that is effective," said Stephen D. Silberstein, MD, professor of neurology at Jefferson Headache Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting.
Several drugs and complementary medications have been deemed effective for the prevention of migraine headaches by updated guidelines from the AAN and the American Headache Society. Published in the April 24 issue of Neurology, the guidelines address prescription and over-the-counter medications.
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