Have we reached a turning point with migraine medication?

Published: Nov. 30, 2023, 8:06 a.m.

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Around 1 billion people around the world suffer from a mysterious neurological condition called migraine. Far more than just a headache, migraine is abnormal processing of the world around us that can have symptoms like loss of sight and speech, dizziness, nausea and extreme fatigue.

There are drugs which can help those struggling with the condition like anti-depressants and anti-convulsants. However, they weren\\u2019t developed specifically for migraine and can come with quite a lot of side effects or simply not work.

For a long time migraine medication has been a process of trial and error.

But a new class of drugs called anti-CGRPs are being hailed as a breakthrough migraine medication. Anti-CGRPs have a small side effect profile and were designed specifically to target migraine. They work by blocking CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide) from building up in the body and triggering a receptor in the brain which turns on a head pain pathway causing the migraine attack.

Earlier this year the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence - or NICE \\u2013 in England cleared the use of an anti-CGRP called Rimegepant to use as both a preventive and acute treatment. Clinicians are hoping this will massively improve the lives of those living with the condition.

So this week on The Inquiry were asking \\u2018Have we reached a turning point with migraine medication?\\u2019

Contributors: \\nDr. Amaal Starling, neurologist and headache specialist at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, in the US state of Arizona. \\nDr Faraidoon, researcher at the Georgian Institute for Global Health at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.\\nPeter Goadsby , Director of the NIHR King's Clinical Research Facility and a professor of neurology at King's College London, England. \\nDr Lise Rystad Oie, researcher at the government funded Norwegian Centre for Headache Research - also known as NorHead.

Presenter: Charmaine Cozier \\nProducer: Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty \\nEditor: Tara McDermott \\nResearcher: Matt Toulson\\nTechnical Producer: Craig Boardman\\nBroadcast Co-ordinator: Jordan King

Image: eternalcreative - Getty Images: 1372323487

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