Migraines in Women: Current Evidence for Management of Episodic and Chronic Migraines

Abstract

Migraine headache is a disabling brain disorder that affects millions of women in the United States. Many migraine sufferers are undertreated. Both inadequate treatment and overuse of abortive migraine medication can contribute to progression from episodic to chronic migraine disorders. A significant number of migraine headaches or severity of episodic migraine headaches warrants treatment with prophylactic medications for prevention. This clinical update reviews the pathophysiology and diagnosis of migraine headaches in women, discusses the efficacy of abortive and chronic pharmacologic treatment, and examines strategies to prevent progression from episodic migraine to chronic migraine. A discussion of treatment during pregnancy and lactation is included.

CGRP monoclonal antibody for preventive treatment of chronic migraine: An update of meta‐analysis

“…Calcitonin gene‐related peptide (CGRP) is a promising target to treat migraine, which has a crucial role in migraine pathophysiology. And CGRP antagonisms and CGRP monoclonal antibody (mAb) are the drugs to inhibit the CGRP pathway resulting in the migraine treatment (Deen et al, ; Deneris, Rosati Allen, Hart Hayes, & Latendresse, ; Messlinger, ; Negro, Lionetto, Simmaco, & Martelletti, ; Schuster & Rapoport, ; Yuan, Lauritsen, & Kaiser, ). Some of CGRP antagonisms related clinical trials are discontinued because of the liver injury after repeated administrations (Hong & Liu, ; Hong, Wu, & Liu, ).…”

The Hallmarks of Midwifery Connect This Diverse Pharmacology Continuing Education Theme Issue

“…Adding tobacco cessation medications to behavioral counseling can increase women's likelihood of successfully quitting smoking. Deneris et al review migraine headache management . Current approaches to this condition include not only treating acute headaches, but also preventing subsequent headaches and mitigating the potential for episodic migraines to progress to chronic migraines.…”