Key facts about migraine

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Migraine - the key facts

• 1 in 7 people in the UK suffer from migraine
• It affects over twice as many women as men
• Migraine affects people from all age groups (even young children) and all social classes
• The World Health Organisation has classified headache as a major health disorder and has rated migraine amongst the top 20 of the most disabling lifetime conditions
• Migraine costs the U.K. around £1 billion per annum
• A migraine attack can last for between 4 and 72 hours
• Sufferers experience an average of 13 attacks each year
• Migraine is more than just a headache. Other symptoms can include:
  
  
  • Visual disturbances (flashing lights, blind spots in the vision, zig zag patterns etc.);
  • Nausea & vomiting;
  • Sensitivity to light (photophobia);
  • Sensitivity to noise (phonophobia);
  • Sensitivity to smells (osmophobia);
  • Tingling/pins and needles/weakness/numbness in the limbs
    
    
• Around 60% of sufferers never consult their G.P, mistakenly thinking that nothing can be done to help them. There is a wide range of effective treatments now available
• Over 10% of school age children suffer from migraine. Migraine occurs equally in both sexes up to the age of 12, after which it becomes more common in girls
• Migraine is triggered by a huge variety of factors, not just cheese, chocolate and red wine! For most people there is not just one trigger but a combination of factors which individually can be tolerated, but when they occur together a threshold is passed and a migraine is triggered
• Migraine is a very individual condition and trigger factors and symptoms vary tremendously from person to person. A treatment which works well for one sufferer may be completely ineffective for another
• There is no miracle cure for migraine but it is a condition that can, in most cases, be effectively managed
• Migraine Action provides information and support to thousands of migraineurs around the UK to help them manage their migraine

If you have a specific migraine question, please call 0116 275 8317 or email rachelmarkham@migraine.org.uk

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