We’ve all have had headaches, but most of his haven’t experienced the excruciating pain of a migraine. Some of the typical symptoms of a migraine include throbbing pain in head, nausea, vomiting, diharrhea, and pain behind one eye. The progession of migranes are broken into four stages (prodrome, aura, attack, postdrome)
There is no known cause of migraines, only theories. There are suggestions of ion channel dysfunction. The most popular idea that researchers propose is that migraines are the results of vasodilation of the extracranial arteries. This dilation can cause inflammation that triggers pain receptors on the trigeminal nerve. The trigeminal nerve is the fifth cranial nerve. It is broken into three branches. The first is the ophthalmic branch that supplies sensory innervation to forehead, front half of scalp, upper eyelid, cornea, bridge and tip of nose, and nasal cavity. The second branch is the maxillary branch that supplies sensory innervation to cheeks, lateral nose, upper lip, upper jaw, teeth, and upper oral cavity. The third branch is the mandibular branch, which provides sensory to lower teeth, lower jaw, lower oral cavity, lower face. This nerve also provides sensory to parotid gland, anterior 2/3 of tongue, and motor to muscles of mastication. If the trigeminal pain receptors are activated in a migraine, this explain the unilateral pain across the forehead that many experience.
Right now, doctors are treating migraines with three different types of medication. They include triptans, gepants, and glutamate agonists. Triptans are in the family of tryptamine based molecules. They are preventative and only treat a single migraine at a time. They cause constriction of blood vessels and inhibit some of the pro-inflammatory responses. Gepants are CGRP-agonists. The final drug type is glutamate antagonists. These inhibit AMPA and L-type receptors. This causes cells to depolarize slower.
We need to continue our research into the causes of migraines and drug treatments, because many people have migraines. This neurological disease causes a lot of pain, and can disrupt their everyday life. Through this research, we could even find more effective ways to treat normal headaches.
Resources:
https://moodle.cord.edu/pluginfile.php/390952/mod_resource/content/4/pathophysiology%20of%20migraine.pdf
http://neurochemistry2014.pbworks.com/w/page/89149016/Basic%20mechanisms%20of%20migraine%20and%20its%20acute%20treatment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migraine
http://debbieupton.com/products-page/migraine-symptoms/
The Headache That is a Migrane
