| Show Pago 36 — The Herald Journal Logan Utah Sunday October 13 1996 Help for many migraine sufferers now available By Linda Castrono baseball pitcher Dwight Oooden have proved otherwise missing games and Scripps Howard Nows Smvico practices due to migraines Iewis Carroll author When Denver Itroneos limning back lerrell Davis hit the bench with a migraine during a reeenl game lie brought home a point doctors have made for tears: Migraines can strike anyone even athletes in peak condition Davis was line until a defensive linebacker hit him causing a migiaine that sent him to the sidelines temporarily c blinded with pain A quick dose of mixed with oxygen got him back on his feel in time to play the last half and score the winning touchdown I hat's the kind of publicity the National Headache Foundation in ('hicago usu-all- v only dreams nlxml ii "It absolutely helps" says Dr Diamond direcloi of the fomuln-lio- n and owner of Diamond Headache Clinic “For years people have conceived migiaincs as psychosomatic or malingering In reality they can happen to anyone at any lime" And when a migraine strikes it can Ik debilitating Its pounding pain has been compared to a jackhammer that works its wav down one side of the head rattling teeth and upsetting the stomach in the process It may also bring vomiting tunnel vision numbness and tingling in hands and feet weakness in one side of the body seeing colored lights or jagged lines and sensitivity to light and noise Twice as many w'omcn as men sulfcr from migraines probably because estrogen can trigger them and for years men viewed (he condition as “feminine" and resisted treatment Diamond says Over the years sports heroes such as basketball stars Karcem Ahdul-Jubband Scollic I’ippcn golfer John Daly and lidn-cain- Sey-inoi- ar oT "Alice in Wonderland" may have made the most unusual contribution to our understanding of headaches He suffered from classic migraines that sometimes left him with the sensations of being “outside his own body" and looking either larger or smaller ilian others in the room says John Corhoy an assistant professor of neurology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center It is speculated that those sensations formed the basis for his classic children's story and scientists later dubbed that uniquely migraine phenomenon “the Alice in Wonderland syndrome" T hose who suffer from migraines probably are born with the condition Diamond says Ninety percent of those who have migraines also have dose rela- tives who have them Ifeyond that no one knows what causes the severe pain that comes quickly and can stay for as long as several days T he leading theory is that they involve an imbalance of the chemical serotonin in the blood which causes blood vessels to constrict and contract Headache sufferers often have low levels of serotonin and researchers have been able to stop headache pain by injecting the chemical Scientists do know what triggers migraines in people genetically prone to them Davis is one of many who get headaches when they’re hit Many women get headaches at the beginning of menstruation probably because of the accompanying decrease in estrogen And one in four people say their headaches tire triggered by foods that contain: Nitrites a preservative contained in bologna hot dogs and bacon Corhoy treated a man who got migraines whenever he ale bacon and stopped getting them when he dropped it from his diet Tyramine a chemical that influences the production of serotonin contained in red wine chocolate aged cheese vinegar yogurt soy sauce and sour cream Monosodium glutamate (MSfi) a flavor enhancer often found in Chinese food diet foods soups and dressings Other people get headaches from too much caffeine (or not enough caffeine if their bodies arc used to having it) lack of water Uxi much vitamin A or If or loo Facts about headaches By Scripps Howard News Service Hcadiichcs strike us many as 45 million Americans and arc the most common reason for visiting a doctor and the No 1 reason for missing work 5 percent to It) percent of American men gel migraines usually between late adolescence and age 40 15 percent to 20 percent of American women get migraines some only after they reach menopause 10 percent of the people with migraines have nausea tunnel vision and sensitivity to light and sound Some also sec auras around objects shortly before the migraine hits The other 90 percent have only pounding pain on one side of their head Some research suggests that stopping to relax even for five minutes at the start of a headache may be enough to shut it down Others show that relaxation techniques used in combination with painkillers work better than cither docs alone Biofcedhack a process that uses equipment to measure signs of relaxation can teach people to relieve their own pain Migraine sufferers have been taught to “think" their hands warm with biofcedhack although no one knows why that helps For more information about headaches call the National Headache Foundation much aspirin (especially Hxccdrin which contains caffeine) neuroloAnnette (irefe a gy resident at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center tracked her migraines to stress and sleep deprivation “Whenever I was on overnight call the next day I had a headache” she says She also gels them when she goes to high elevations drinks red wine or cats lots of cheese nuts or chocolate Grcfc had migraines so frequently — as often as twice a week — that she started taking medicine every evening that prevents them from happening Called nortriptyline it works as long as she takes it religiously Until science unravels the mystery behind migraines doctors must resort cither to similar preventive drugs or to “abortive” therapy that nips headaches in the bud Many consider the drug sumatriptan also known by the brand name Imitrcx the best migraine tool in decades It is injected into the thigh muscle once the migraine has begun and provides relief within one to two hours TTic drug has its drawbacks: At $35 a dose it's expensive and 35-4- 0 percent of the time the migraine returns within 24 hours and requires another shot “The major side effect is a feeling of chest tightness that can feel like a heart attack” C'orbov says It is harmless and goes away within 20 minutes hut can he disconcerting The lidocainc inhalant that put Davis buck on the field is a “relatively novel therapy” and is used less frequently because it works for only about half of migraine sufferers Corhoy says “It was good medicine for him” Dia mond says because it is a painkiller that is quickly absorbed by mucus membranes Its only side effect is leaving the nose and mouth numb Not everyone can bound back like Davis after their migraines are stopped short “but most people can do the things they need to do” Corhoy says Without intervention people have been known to miss as many as 60 days of work a year “That can be a killer for your career” he says “If Joe Smith has to keep leaving work because of a migraine he can be perceived as a wimp” Research aims at finding vaccine to halt spread of MS By the Toronto Globe and Mail A research finding is raising hope that a vaccine can he developed to halt the spread of multiple sclerosis and similar autoimmune diseases Researchers in Oregon report (hat injecting advanced MS patients with a vaccine can boost a type of immune cell that counters the activity of rogue immune cells Six patients who responded to the vaccine remained stable for one year The disease continued to progress in II people who received the vaccine hut did not develop a response to it as well us for six others who took a placebo Arthur Vandenhark and collaborators at the Veterans Affairs Medical ('enter in Portland Ore said he believes the effect might help treat a range of discuses (hat arc related to uncontrolled immune-ce- ll activity The concept is to create an immune response that counters the autoimmune response said Dr Jack Antel a clinical neurologist at McGill University in Montreal who wrote a critique of the Oregon study (hat appears in this week’s issue of the journal Nature Medicine In MS an aberrant type of immune is activated and begins to attack myelin the insulation around nerves The rest of the immune system is ts unable to stop the destruction and it creates in the nervous system that produce muscle and vision problems and progressive debilitation T-c- short-circui- When Peter Sigmann goes to the doctor he doesn't try to diagnose his condition in advance but lie docs make sure he knows what he wants to tell and discuss with his physician lie makes a list lie has an agenda lie reports his symptoms as clearly as possible making as many observations us he can about his complaint or ailment to help determine what's wrong Is Sigmann “a doctor's delight” as a patient? Only his physician knows Hut as a physi- cian himself Sigmann knows what he likes when a patient visits his office “A doctor's delight is a patient who is a good deseriber and observer A patient lives in his body 24 hours a day The doctor only gets a snapshot I sit buck n and let them tell it" says “It is helpful to us (physicians) when patients stick to descriptions and don 't make a diagnosis on their own" Sigmann adds although he admits that patients are often correct in their an internist at Sigmann Sig-man- cians and who are decisive actually receive better care and end up healthier "I’atients who really understand theii illness and arc aggressive in finding out about it — not lily trom their dintor bid troni reading and talking it over i:h Iricnds and parlners - do biKir in managing their illnesses" wrie Ihomas Delbanco a pro-sn ol medicine at Harvard Midicul Sehitol Sigmann agrees in what has bun a change in the Jkto:-tiu rt n lationship h the past when a physietn asked a patten: "ho‘s the -- sL-- a p S lls c Ri j fe be fet ed on it1 sp Cc thi pn to fin Sigmann said he wants ptients to come to his office with a written list of items “Then I know I am addressing their agenda” he adds He also welcomes patients taking notes because patients often forget what the physician said the minute they leave ihc office Taking someone along is helpful and avoids the problem of the wife calling the office the next day to ask w hat her husband is supposed to do because he cannot remember A patient may also want to take someone for moral support he says adding that patients should not fear or be threatened bv a trip to the physician's office Any anxieties should be shared with the physician and the office staff so they can Ik talked about “A good diK'tor's office should make people relax and a good patient" thit people who take charge of their medical care who communicate honestly with their clini- one-thir- street" Hospital in Wauwatosa A recent Harvard Health letter claims thctc is growing evidence d While of the patients given the vaccine showed a good response “the difficulty was the trial was too short to show clinical results” he said f down Ik a good patient and take instructions TiHluy the answer to the question “Who's the dtK'tor?” is the patient and the physician combined Sigmann says “It's a two-wa- y doctor knows how to relax sas effect” ( tor?” Sigmann said it meant the patient should generally pipe lioedlert Memorial Lulheran Wis said patients should not be docile oi passive when visiting phvsi- tans Rather they should insist on being heard in the doctor's oltice T hose who don't speak up run the risk of being misdiagnosed or inadcquatelv treated he lls The patients all had advanced cases of multiple sclerosis in which so much myelin is already damaged that it's difficult to evaluate changes Ante! said he's sure the work will spur a number that cause of other approaches to turning off autoimmune diseases which includes lupus The concept with MS would be to vaccinate people who arc in the early stages of the disease which commonly strikes people in their 20s or 30s to help their bodies head off the autoimmune destruction The cause is still unknown but it may stem from a combination of inherited and environmental factors TTic immune system's come in a wide range of types only a few of which are- - able to respond to a particular invader mmamemm Patients should demand to be heard By Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The therapy is aimed at cither stopping the generation of these inflammatory cells or producing other cells that inhibit the destruction Antel said The vaccine given the patients in Oregon is based on a peptide known as tyr49thr which boosts the that can inhibit the activity of regulatory attack by inflammatory “I find it intriguing because of the strategy of creating an immune response against an autoimmune disease” Antel said However he added: “I'm not convinced that they have shown it has a clinical cot hel tea fes da ant bee I A 9 9 I 9 9 9 9 9 a he says Confidentiality between physician and patient is essential but should a patient fear his records might not remain confidential he can ask the physician to leave certain things mil of the medical record Sigmann says ( ttlicr tips: I vpliin lo the physician whether bi iot a i j rn to he Ip i T met chi! Pctl app grot its I son psyi D the Pull had als to ti and i TI Monday October 14 from 6 to 9:30 pm such as a pain in the side is old new or intermittent Stick to a description of the tan Cache County Council Cache School Board Logan School board The Utah Legislature j physical complaint problem or problems and avoid making a diugmsis It neccsstu ukc a list Make sure you run through all your poinis And make sure the physician is hearing you Keep the on track Ask questions Make sioe you understand youi rl vsici 01's questions and insttiRi ions Have them slow down ar1 rep a it mccssiry I be most uvp Tiii-- t thing to Fung to tin I'tuMoin s tficc is the proper 'i“iiinle Ihink of the pFysiiim as semeone with diagnostic si it's who can lilp vou io-F:a who nrid chance to hear from and sound out candidates for: nos Pul 1 the Un j j at the Logan High School little Theater The public is welcome appi duri Clai four Fc caus preg to th Al birtl grov fetus Sponsored by Th systc to di alcol bcha ment W1 year recei |
