Implications of the Survey
The point here isn’t really FDA approval. The point is that we finally have Migraine-specific medications that can abort a Migraine attack rather than simply masking the pain for a few hours, which is what opioid and barbiturate medications do, and the Migraine-specific medications offer better Migraine disease management. Especially in light of evidence that Migraine is a progressive disease, using medications such as the triptans to abort rather than mask a Migraine allows many Migraineurs the ability to stop the Migrainous process in the brain and actively work to slow or avoid the progression. Suzanne Simons, Executive Director of the National Headache Foundation commented,
“We now have specific medications available to treat Migraine attacks. The goal is to make sure that people get the best possible treatment, and for many Migraineurs, the best treatment is these Migraine-specific drugs.”
For various reasons, not everyone can take triptans or some other Migraine abortive medications. Dr. Lipton prefers NSAIDs such as prescription strength naproxen to narcotics, in large part because of the potential for rebound with narcotics. He commented that naproxen is his first choice of NSAIDs because it has a long half-life and is less likely to cause rebound. Along with an NSAID, he recommends an antinausea medications such as metoclopramide (Reglan) and noted that caffeine is often an effective analgesic adjunct (helps the analgesic work better).
About the Survey
This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of the National Headache Foundation between January 16 and 31, 2007 among 502 Migraine patients (aged 18 and over), including 244 Migraine patients taking triptans as their primary Migraine medication, 115 Migraine patients taking barbiturates or opioids as their primary Migraine medication and 143 Migraine patients taking other medications as their primary Migraine medication and 201 physicians, including 101 neurologists and 100 primary care physicians survey and who have practiced in the US for at least two years, have treated two or more Migraine patients per month, and have written two or more prescriptions per month for Migraine. Physician data were weighted by gender, years in practice and region so as to be representative of physicians in the AMA master file. Patient data were weighted by age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.
