thesis
Coronary Side Effects of Antimigraine Drugs From Patient to Receptor
- Publication date
- 22 December 1999
- Publisher
- Migraine is a paroxysmal neurological disorder, which occurs in 6% of males and
15-18% of females, with the highest prevalence between the ages of 25 and 55
years1,2. Attacks consist of moderate or severe headache, associated with nausea,
vomiting, photo- and phonophobia3. The headache lasts 4 to 72 hours and increases
with physical activity. The migraine attack may be resolved by sleep during or after
the headache4. In about 15% of patients (migraine with aura), an aura may precede
the migraine headache within about one hour. The aura usually consists of visual
symptoms such as fortifications, scotoma or hemianopsia, but may also be sensory
(paresthesia), motor- (weakness, paresis) or speech-related (dysarthria, aphasia)1.
To study migraine scientifically, there is a clear need for uniform criteria to
determine whether a patient is suffering from a migraine headache. In 1988, the
International Headache Society (IHS) provided such criteria5 (see Table 1.1 for
migraine without and with aura).