New York Headache blog

A study just published in the British medical journal Lancet reports on the effect of food colorings in children. This study found that food colorings cause symptoms of attention deficit disorder in young children. Many of my patients report that...

Dr. Tietjen reports in the current issue of Neurology on a survey performed at six headache clinics. A total of 949 women with migraine completed the survey: 40% had chronic headache (that is headaches occuring on more than 15 days each month) and 72%...

Hemiplegic migraine can be safely treated with triptans (drugs like Imitrex, Maxalt and other). This is the conclusion of a study published in the September issue of journal Cephalalgia. A group of Finnish doctors gave triptans to 76 patients who...

Researchers at several companies are using brain images obtained by an MRI machine to train people with chronic pain how to control their pain. These MRI images are not of the type that are routinely taken to look at the brain structure...

Noise is a well-known trigger of migraines. Recent findings by WHO researchers indicate that excessive exposure to noise causes other health hazards as well. Noise from daytime traffic can result in chronic stress with an increase in the risk of...

A recent survey by Beatrice Golomb and her colleagues which was reported by Reuters Health discovered that when patients reported adverse reactions to drugs their doctors routinely denied that the drug was responsible for these side effects...

I just received an announcement for the “2nd Annual Surgical Treatment of Migraine Headaches.” The event is sponsored by Case Western Reserve University and presented by its Department of Plastic Surgery. Ten of the 12 speakers on the...

In a study presented at the recent meeting of the American Psychiatric Association Dr. Stephen Woolley found that adults suffering from severe headaches have a 30% to 50% increased chance of having suicidal thoughts or behaviors, independent...

Brain damage from migraines? Maybe, if you are a mouse. A recent study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience discovered that a process that simulates migraine in mice leads to brain damage similar to that seen with repeated ministrokes...

Cluster headaches are much more common in men. Cluster headaches are much more common in men. However, they do occur in women and in the latest issue of journal Headache Dr. T. Rozen presents the first report of a woman who was having...

Restless leg syndrome (RLS) affects 10% of the population with 3% suffering from severe symptoms. Patients suffering from RLS complain of difficulty falling asleep because of uncomfortable sensation in their legs which is temporarily improved...

A recent small study suggests that wearing red colored contact lenses can relieve pain of a migraine attack. A recent small study suggests that wearing red colored contact lenses can relieve pain of a migraine attack. At the NYHC we have tried...

Women with migraine have a higher chance of also having endometriosis. A study by Dr. Gretchen Tietjen and her colleagues published in the latest issue of journal Headache looked at 171 women with migraine and 104 controls. Endometriosis was...

However, presence of any brain lesion is worrisome to most patients and according to some researchers may be indicative of small strokes or another type of brain damage. Some researchers have been concerned, although without any evidence, about...

Migraines at the end of pregnancy and soon after the delivery increase the risk of strokes and other vascular complications (cerebro-vascular disease, or CVD). Dr. Bushnell and her colleagues presented these findings at the last annual meeting...

Migralex is a headache medication developed and patented by Dr. Alexander Mauskop, Director and Founder of the New York Headache Center. Migralex is a product of 15 years of research and development. It will become available for purchase at...

According to a recent study by Magis and colleagues (Headache 2007;47:52-57) daily dose of 600 mg of alpha lipoic acid (also known as thioctic acid) was significantly better than placebo in reducing the frequency of migraine attacks, headache...

Medication overuse headache (MOH) does not respond to steroids according to a new study published in the July 3 issue of journal Neurology. Patients who take Fioricet, Fiorinal, Esgic, Excedrin and other, mostly caffeine-containing drugs often...

Chronic migraine headaches can be helped by topiramate (Topamax) even in those patients who are having rebound headaches from daily intake of pain or migraine medications, according to a report in the latest issue of Cephalalgia. Chronic migraine...

Women with migraine have a higher frequency of excessive and/or prolonged menstrual bleeding and endometriosis, according to a study published recently in Headache, the journal of the American Headache Society. While as many as 60% of women...

Curtis Schreiber and Roger Cady reported their study at the recent annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study. Another study of Botox for migraines. Curtis Schreiber and...

“Old Drugs In, New Ones Out”, a story in the New York Times on July 1, 2007 reports on a growing trend in the pharmaceutical industry where two existing generic drugs are combined into a new more effective product. “Old Drugs In, New Ones Out”...

Presence of anxiety and depression (“distress”) at the time of initial diagnosis of sciatica predict worse outcome of both surgical and non-surgical treatment three years after the onset of pain according to a report in the July issue of...

A study just published in the journal Pain looked at the effect of patient expectations on outcome of acupuncture treatment. Four large studies were analyzed and one of the four A study just published in the journal Pain looked at the effect of...

Medtronic, Inc. today announced the first patient implant in a preliminary study to evaluate if an implanted device might help some of the thousands of Americans who suffer the agony of chronic migraine headaches that have not responded to other...

Intranasal use of capsaicin (on the side of the headache) has been reported to relieve cluster headaches. Capsaicin is an extract of hot peppers and can cause burning pain and irritation of the nasal mucosa. It must be used twice a day for ...