A throbbing neurology problem shadows one in seven people
Roughly fourteen percent of humanity—about 1.16 billion people—live with migraine, ranking it among the most disabling nervous-system conditions. Attacks often throb on one side with nausea and fierce light and sound sensitivity; some begin with sensory aura.
Migraine is a neurological disorder of moderate-to-severe headaches, usually one-sided and throbbing, though about 40% of attacks hit both sides. The throb does not keep time with the pulse. Nausea affects almost 90% of sufferers and vomiting between 28% and 70%, alongside sensitivity to light, sound, and smell. In adults the pain phase usually lasts 4 to 72 hours; an attack that outlasts 72 hours despite treatment is called status migrainosus and may need hospital care.
An attack can unfold in four phases, not all of them felt every time. A prodrome of up to 48 hours may bring mood swings, food cravings, yawning, or a stiff neck. About 30% of people get aura, a 5-to-60-minute disturbance that is visual in up to 99% of cases—often a flickering zigzag spreading from the centre of vision—and sensory tingling in 30–40%. After the pain comes a postdrome, the so-called migraine hangover, of tiredness and poor concentration.
Genes load the dice: heritability estimates run from 34% to 64%, usually from many small variants rather than one faulty gene, although familial hemiplegic migraine is a rare single-gene form. Attacks are thought to strike when the brain passes a personal sensitivity threshold, often after lost sleep, skipped meals, or hormonal change, and overusing painkillers can itself cause headaches. Migraine often travels with depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder.
About 14% of people, roughly 1.16 billion, live with migraine, making it the third most disabling nervous-system condition. Women are hit harder from puberty, with attacks peaking around perimenopause; between ages 30 and 50, up to four times as many women as men are affected. Ibuprofen or paracetamol suit milder attacks, triptans are first-line for severe ones, gepants help when triptans fail, and opioids are discouraged.
Source: Migraine
