Migraine affects 20% of the population in France. An often misdiagnosed disease that leads to poor medical care.
One in five French people suffers from migraine, but 8 out of 10 have no medical follow-up. The operation “Migraine Fortnight” (1), launched in 500 pharmacies in France, offered screening last March. The questionnaire made it possible to identify patients and avoid self-medication, which is often inappropriate and sometimes even abusive. To be screened for migraine, in addition to headaches, one must be embarrassed, both by the light and / or be unable to work for at least one day.
The objective being to achieve a “photograph of the patients and to have a quantified volume”, explains Philippe Gaertner, director of the Federation of the unions of pharmacies of France (FSPF). And to guide patients according to their symptoms.
Women with more migraine
Migraine is not just a headache, it is a neurological pathology. “At the anatomical level, nothing distinguishes the brain of a migraine patient from that of a healthy person,” says Dr Anne Donnet, president of the French Society for Migraine and Headache Studies (SFEMC). But, nevertheless, the pain is there. Often confused with headaches, that is to say, headaches, migraine has consequences on the quality of life of those who suffer from it. “Anatomically, the brain of a migraine sufferer is no different from that of a non-migraine sufferer, it simply reacts differently to changes in state”, explains Michel Lanteri-Minet, neurologist at the University Hospital of Nice and president of the French Society for the Study and Treatment of Pain.
“The peak of migraine prevalence is between 20 and 50 years old and particularly affects women. There are three to four more women affected by migraine, ”explains Anne Donnet. Classified by the WHO as one of the most disabling “societal” pathologies, particularly in women, migraine is a neurological disease in its own right.
Michel Lanteri-Minet, neurologist at the University Hospital of Nice: ” No morphological abnormality has been demonstrated in migraine sufferers. “
Treat yourself differently
Michel Lanter-Minet explains that there are also “two or three compounds in herbal medicine, which show positive effects on migraine, such as chamomile or black radish extract”. However, he recalls that “black radish extract, as effective as beta-blockers, can also have undesirable effects due to its active ingredients. They are not without danger”
Last March, scientists from Albany Medical Center and New York Empire State College, were interested in a new radiological treatment that had allowed 88% of patients, who had followed the proposed treatment, no longer feel the need to take their migraine medications. The treatment in question involved inserting a small catheter into the patient’s nose to deliver a molecule, lidocaine, behind the nasal wall, often associated with migraines.
Even if to date we cannot definitively and radically cure this pathology, Philippe Gaertner, director general of the FSPF, explains that there is a “need to screen to make the correct diagnosis”.
(1) Campaign carried out by the French Society for Migraine and Headache Studies (SFEMC) and the Federation of Pharmacists’ Unions of France (FSPF)
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