New York Headache blog

Looking for health advice is one of the most common reason people search the web. Many websites provide health information and some even offer self-diagnosis using a symptom checker. After entering all of the symptoms the website suggests a...

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just released a new strengthened warning about NSAIDs. Prescription and over-the-counter NSAIDs (ibuprofen, naproxen, nabumetone, diclofenac, and other) are widely used for the treatment of pain including...

Hopefully, your doctor has given you many treatment options, so that you can manage even the most severe attacks at home (including Compazine or Phenergan anti-nausea suppositories for when you are very nauseated or vomit and Imitrex or sumatriptan...

For years researchers have tried to find ways to block various chemicals (neurotransmitters) released during a migraine attack, including serotonin, CGRP, nitric oxide, substance P, glutamate, and other. Triptans (such as IMitrex or sumatriptan)...

An opening between the left and the right side of the heart, called patent foramen ovale (PFO), is found in 25% of the general population. It has been found to be more common in people who suffer from migraines. A large PFOs can cause shortness...

Several presentations at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society held in Washington DC last weekend discussed the treatment of post-concussion symptoms in children (everything below also applies to adults). Among many topics...

Zolmitriptan is one of seven triptans available in the US and it comes in tablets (Zomig), orally disintegrating tablets, that is tablets that melt in your mouth (Zomig ZMT), and nasal spray (Zomig NS). The nasal spray was just approved for...

A combination pill containing 10 mg of sumatriptan with 60 mg of naproxen sodium was just approved by the FDA for children aged 12 to 17. This combination in a higher dose (85 mg of sumatriptan and 500 mg of naproxen) has been available for...

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was approved by the FDA at the end of 2013 (see my earlier post) but it has not yet become available. This approval was for the treatment of acute migraine. A new study just presented at the International...

We are again in a cluster season. We do not see any cluster headache patients for months and then dozens come in within weeks. It is not allergies, barometric pressure or any other earth phenomena that trigger cluster headaches in so many people...

Another supplement to consider for the preventive treatment of migraine headaches is diamine oxidase (DAO). It is an enzyme that breaks down histamine. Histamine is released during an allergic reaction and is present in many foods. It is one of...

Tension headaches can be prevented, or at least made milder by strength training, according to a new Danish study just published in the journal of the International Headache Society, Cephalalgia. Tension-type headache is the most common type of...

While Botox (OnabotulinumtoxinA) has been shown to be effective in treating chronic migraines, its exact mechanism of action is not clear. Initially, we thought that it works by relaxing muscles in the forehead, temples and the back of the head...

A topical cream seems to be effective in treating migraine headaches. Achelios Therapeutics announced results from a Phase IIa placebo-controlled clinical trial in moderate and severe migraine sufferers treated with Topofen, the company’s...

The FDA-approved protocol for Botox injections for chronic migraines calls for 31 injections with 155 units of Botox. This is the protocol we teach young doctors and new injectors. However, just like with any other medication, doctors are allowed...

Low vitamin D level predicts larger stroke size and poor outcome, according to a new study by University of Massachusetts researchers. They examined data on 96 consecutive patients with stroke and found a strong inverse correlation between the...

Topiramate (Topamax) is a drug used for the prevention of migraine headaches (and epilepsy) in adults and last year it was also approved for adolescent migraine sufferers. This drug is notorious for causing cognitive side effects, kidney stones...

Chronic migraine sufferers appear to be more likely to have dryness of their eyes, according to a study by ophthalmologists at the University of Utah, which was published in the journal Headache. The researchers used sophisticated techniques to...

Cluster headaches cause more severe pain than any other type of headaches. Some patients even call them suicide headaches because they provoke thoughts of suicide. The name comes from the fact that they occur in clusters – every day for a couple of...

Chronic fatigue syndrome sufferers have endured years of neglect and sometimes ridicule. The condition has even been called “yuppie flu”. Informal surveys indicate that half of the doctors do not believe that this is a true physical disease. This is...

Narcotics are not only ineffective for the treatment of headaches, but they can also make headaches worse and transform an episodic migraine into chronic. A study mentioned in a previous post showed that more than half of migraine sufferers who...

The existence of gluten sensitivity has been long denied by the mainstream medical establishment. A study described in a previous post over two years ago documented higher incidence of migraine headaches in people with gluten sensitivity than...

Doctors in St. Louis, MO examined how well headaches are treated in children. There has been little research about how well doctors in the US care for children and teens with migraine and if the treatment is consistent with evidence-based...

Several million Americans suffer from chronic migraines, headaches that occur on at least half of the days and often daily. A new study suggests one of the way to prevent this disabling disease. In the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention Study...

The new dietary guidelines issued by a government advisory committee have many positive changes from the old guidelines. These include a focus on food rather than nutrients. For example, there is no proposed limit on the intake of cholesterol...

The Journal of Nutrition just published a study that suggests life-extending benefits of taking vitamin and mineral supplements. Multivitamin with minerals products are the most commonly used supplements in the United States, followed by...

Eating more salt leads to more headaches, according to a study published in BMJ Open last December. In a multicentre feeding study with three 30-day periods, 390 participants were randomised to the DASH (a healthy diet that was expected to lower...

Epilepsy drugs Depakote and Topamax are two of only four drugs approved by the FDA for the prevention of episodic migraines (the other two are blood pressure medications in the beta blocker family, propranolol and timolol, while Botox is the only...

I recommend several supplements to my headache patients. However, the supplement industry is not regulated by the FDA and a few days ago another scandal has erupted. The attorney general of New York ordered Walgreens, WalMart, Target and GNC...

An email I just received, which is attached at the end of this post, prompted me to write again about magnesium. In my opinion, every migraine sufferer should try taking magnesium. It’s been 20 years since we published our first study of...