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Helping You Live Better
The Real Cost of Migraine
The International Burden of Migraine Study recently released numbers on the direct costs of chronic migraine and episodic migraine in the U . S . and Canada . For this Internet-based survey , 1,204 Americans and 681 Canadians with migraine were asked to document the medical services they used in the previous three months . These included headache-specific medications , ER visits , headache provider visits and diagnostic testing .
In the U . S ., the mean headache-related cost over a threemonth period was $ 1,036 per person for chronic migraine , compared to $ 383 per person for episodic migraine .
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In Canada , the three-month costs were $ 471 per person for chronic migraine and $ 172 per person for episodic migraine .
For more on the latest migraine and headache research , visit headaches . org .
Sticking Point
The FDA recently rejected pharmaceutical company NuPathe ’ s transdermal migraine patch , Zelrix , based on safety and manufacturing concerns .
The patch is an experimental treatment that uses a mild electrical current to push the popular antimigraine drug sumatriptan through the skin and into the blood stream . It was designed to eliminate some of the side effects inherent in oral medications and was the first of its kind to be reviewed by the FDA .
Although the regulatory agency acknowledged the transdermal patch is effective in the overall migraine population , it requested further study before it could approve the product .
© B . Boissonnet / BSIP / Corbis
After-Effects
If you suffer a traumatic brain injury ( TBI ), you may be at greater risk for headaches . According to a new study reported in the Journal of Neurotrauma , researchers from the University of Washington found that recurring headaches are more common during the year following a TBI . Regardless of the injury ’ s severity , more than 70 percent of TBI patients reported having headaches during this recovery period .
14 HEAD WISE | Volume 1 , Issue 3 • 2011