Migraines are way different from typical headaches.Those who experience migraines describe them as extremely painful events that often come along with blurred vision, nausea, extreme sensitivity to light, sounds, and some smells. Migraine episodes are often devastating and highly disruptive to everyday life.
Statistics suggest that women tend to experience more migraines than men, which leads to a question as to why. According to scientists at the Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, Spain, the answer as to why women experience more migraines may lie with the sex hormones and their activities.
Prof. Antonio Ferrer-Montiel said that experiments in the migraine model between men and women result in significant differences inboth cases. Scientists are yet to understand the molecular correlates responsible for these differences. This is quite a complex process.The modulation of the trigeminovascular system through sex hormones has animportant role to play andseeks to be properlyaddressed.
Migraine Statistics Worldwide
A report by the WHO (World Health Organization) suggests that 1 in every 7 women worldwide suffers from migraines. The same report also mentioned a huge share (40 million) of the population of the United Statesis suffering from migraines, whereabout 28 million are women.
According to a study, Aura is quite common among people with migraines. As high as 20% of people who get frequent migraines experience a collection of sensory disruptions, called Aura, such as blind spots, flashes of light, tingling in the hands and face, and numbness.
Migraines, generally, affect younger women and the pain gets worse as they age. Migraine episodes most commonly occur when they are most productive, at work or at home. They have a sensitivity to light and sound in the surroundings, which makes it almost impossible for them to work.
Common Migraine Triggers
Although a migraine episode can affect you at any time out of nowhere.There are some common migraine triggers like stress, loud noises, strong smells, bright lights, changed sleep patterns, and certain foods & beverages (e.g. wine, chocolate, etc.). Migraine triggers can be specific to individuals.This means one person’s migraine triggers may not be relevant to another.
For instance, if one person gets a bad headache right after drinking one serving ofred wine,another person may require a whole bottle or even more and still not get an episode.
Migraine Episodes
According to scientists, it’s completely random how hormonal influences activate certain neurons in the brain and others function just fine. This means a migraine can be a neurological problem.
A migraine could occurwhen a groupof neurons (in the brain) starts firing for one reason and then suddenly stop for another. This is what we call a migraine episode.
The worst migraines strike when they’retrying to balancethings out between their personal and professional lives.
Conclusion!
Migraines are the result of a chain of complex reactions between different hormones, genetics in the brain, and environmental factors. Thus, we can call a migraine a disorder of the brain and the nerves.
Author | Hemant Kumar Gupta
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