Abstract
Migraine is a pathophysiologically complex disorder that arises from a neurovascular disturbance in the brain itself, and involves modulatory mechanisms in the brainstem, subcortical and cortical levels to process pain. These processing mechanisms may be abnormal in migraine, which uses otherwise normal neural pathways for pain transmission. Migraine is also an inherited dysfunction that in some individuals becomes chronic, and at various stages has shown functional neuroimaging changes. Based on further analysis of these concepts, it may be that migraine is a potentially curable disorder or disease, or at least one that can be controlled to such an extent as to prevent its acute genesis and chronic progression to the point that it no longer becomes clinically symptomatic. There are many present and potential targets to mitigate the migraine attack(s), and therefore a potential cure might exist in the future, resulting in a reduction of the expression of paroxysmal symptoms and signs, which then will fall within or near the spectrum of normal brain functions. This paper will explore the migraine diatheses to look at ways that migraine could be seen to be curable by either limiting its threshold to clinical expression or stabilizing or even reversing its pathophysiological genesis.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Qiu J (2008) In search of a migraine cure: a matter of heart and mind. Lancet Neurol 7(7):576–577
Pietrobon D, Striessnig J (2003) Neurobiology of migraine. Nat Rev Neurosci 4:386–398. www.nature.com/reviews/neuro
Goadsby PJ, Charbit AR, Andreou AP, Akerman S, Holland PR (2009) Neurobiology of migraine. Neuroscience 161(2):327–341
Weaver DF (2003) Epileptogenesis ictogenesis and the design of future antiepileptic drugs. Can J Neurol Sci 30:4–7
Dodick DW, Gargus JJ (2008) Why migraine strikes. Sci Am 299(2):56–63
Bigal ME (2008) Lipton RB putative mechanisms of the relationship between obesity and migraine progression. Curr Opin Neurol 21:301–308
May A (2009) New insights into headache: an update on functional and structural imaging findings. Nat Rev Neurol 5:199–209
Weiller C, May A et al (1995) Brain stem activation in spontaneous human migraine attacks. Nat Med 1(7):658–660
Bahra A, Matharu MS, Buchel C, Frackowiak RS, Goadsby PJ (2001) Brainstem activation specific to migraine headache. Lancet 357:1016–1017
Welch KMA, Nagesh V, Aurora SK, Gelman N (2001) Periaqueductal gray matter dysfunction in migraine: cause or the burden of illness? Headache 41:629–637
Bussone G, Grazzi L (2010) personal communication
May A (2008) Chronic pain may change the structure of the brain. Pain 137:7–15
Scholz J, Woolf CJ (2002) Can we conquer pain. Nat Neurosci 5:1062–1067
Conflict of interest statement
The author declares that he has no conflict of interest related to the publication of this article.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Purdy, R.A. Migraine is curable!. Neurol Sci 31 (Suppl 1), 141–143 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-010-0308-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-010-0308-3