- LONDON (Reuters) - Some migraine
remedies are better than others from the same class of drugs in relieving
the severe headaches that afflict hundreds of millions of people, Dutch
doctors said on Friday.
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- A class of drugs called triptans are most effective in
reducing the excruciating pain, nausea, vomiting and general malaise of
migraines but some are more likely than others to provide consistent success,
according to researchers at Leiden University in the Netherlands.
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- Their analysis of 53 trials of the drugs showed Merck
and Co's rizatriptan (Maxalt), Pfizer Inc's eletriptan (Relpax) and Pharmacia
Corp's almotriptan (Axert) are likely to offer the best relief.
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- "Triptans as a class are the best and within the
triptans these show in clinical trials the best results," neurologist
Michael Ferrari, who headed the research team, said in an interview.
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- "If you look at absolute efficacy then these three
come out best."
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- The researchers, whose study was published in the Lancet
medical journal, reviewed published and unpublished data on the seven types
of triptans on the market in one of the biggest analyses of the drugs so
far.
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- Triptans act on serotonin, a message-carrying chemical
in the brain that is involved in the relaxation of blood vessels. The drugs
cause the vessels to relax.
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- An estimated 10 percent of the population, from children
to octogenarians, suffer from regular migraine attacks which occur, on
average, once or twice per month.
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- "The average duration is one day but that may range
up to three days in some patients," said Ferrari.
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- Doctors do not know what causes migraines but they suspect
there is a genetic basis and that environmental triggers such as stress,
light or certain foods trigger an attack.
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- Three times as many women as men are affected.
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- "It is clear that something goes wrong in the brain
and we have some clear ideas that it is most likely in the brain stem,
the part that connects the brain and the spinal cord," Ferrari said..
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- Little is known about the progression of migraines, which
are most prevalent in people around the age of 40. In some people they
become less severe and less frequent with age.
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- Migraines are also associated with depression and epilepsy.
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