Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 08/10/2016 in Posts

  1. A recent journal article. I guess the positive part is that there are some "advances" in understanding, and it suggests there might soon be more. As usual, all one can see without paying big bucks is what I have pasted here. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14737175.2016.1216796 ABSTRACT Introduction: Cluster headache is the worst primary headache form; it occurs in paroxysmal excruciatingly severe unilateral head pain attacks usually grouped in cluster periods. The familial occurrence of the disease indicates a genetic component but a gene abnormality is yet to be disclosed. Activation of trigeminal afferents and cranial parasympathetic efferents, the so-called trigemino-parasympathetic reflex, can explain pain and accompanying oculo-facial autonomic phenomena. In particular, pain in cluster headache is attributed, at least in part, to the increased CGRP plasma levels released by activated trigeminal system. Posterior hypothalamus was hypothesized to be the cluster generator activating the trigemino-parasympathetic reflex. Efficacy of monoclonal antibodies against CRGP is under investigation in randomized clinical trials. Areas covered: This paper will focus on main findings contributing to consider cluster headache as a neurovascular disorder with an origin from within the brain. Expert commentary: Accumulated evidence with hypothalamic stimulation in cluster headache patients indicate that posterior hypothalamus terminates rather than triggers the attacks. More extensive studies on the genetics of cluster headache are necessary to disclose anomalies behind the increased familial risk of the disease. Results from ongoing clinical trials in cluster headache sufferers using monoclonal antibodies against CGRP will open soon a new era.
    1 point
  2. ...thank you for the link...newish to the site and appreciate the "lookee here"... ...my apologies for lack of detail...the monoclonal antibody I refer is rituxan (aka rituximab)... ...and please note...as indicated in the link...there ARE side effects (consequences) of any med... I referred a potential positive....PLEASE folks...note that it aint necessarily all sweet pigs and roses. In my case...my immunity system is compromised beyond which I was warned or expected...it IS a challenge.... You pays yur money and yas takes yur chances...I'm alive...hard to complain...but just be aware... no sucha thing as: "FREE" Best Jon
    1 point
  3. The TV show "The Doctors" did a segment today on CH. One of their staff members suffers from CH. I didn't catch the show but saw a clip on their website. I'm glad to see CH getting the coverage. Maybe more people will begin to understand what it is all about.
    1 point
  4. Hello Pos, Melatonin: Consensus seems to be that it is ok with respect to busting. In the past, some said it is ok and others said we are not sure. but, overall, it seems to be ok. In cycle, our supply of Melatonin drops rather dramatically. Therefore taking it is actually replacing what is not there currently and raising the levels to 'normal'. I take at least 10mg about 30 minutes before bed. If 10mg does not give me any relief, I will take 20mg. Out of cycle, this would make me very wobbly when I get up during the night. In cycle, there are no wobbles. Hope this helps! spiny
    1 point
  5. And then I found this Cephalgia article by Dr. Rozen: Melatonin: Case Studies Indicate Hormone May Relieve Cluster Headaches "Two case studies suggest that melatonin may have an ability to provide relief from cluster headaches. "Physicians at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia report administering melatonin to two patients with long-standing chronic cluster headaches. The patients pain disappeared after melatonin treatment, the physicians reported in the journal Cephalalgia. "For both patients, the scenario was the same: they experienced daily headaches and nightly headaches within 40 minutes to an hour after falling asleep. "The first patient was a 38-year-old male who had been experiencing approximately six headaches per day for at least 10 months a year for the past 20 years. Fourteen days was the longest remission he had experienced. The authors treated the man with 9 mg of melatonin daily at bed time in conjunction with his usual anti-headache medication. Two days later the headaches disappeared and remained gone for the 6 months follow-up. "The second patient, 40 years old, had suffered from excruciating headaches 3 times a day for 8 years. Two weeks was the longest hed gone without experiencing a headache, even on his medication. The subject began taking 9 mg daily of melatonin, along with his pharmaceutical headache medication. For the eight months of follow-up, he remained headache free. "Although these patients reported upon in Cephalalgia also took pharmaceutical agents in addition to melatonin, study author Dr. Rozen has had success treating headache patients with melatonin alone. Hes also successfully used melatonin to treat other types of headaches, including migraines." Reference: Peres MFP, Rozen TD. Cephalgia. 2001;21:993-995. bobb
    1 point
  6. This from The Lancet: Cluster headache and melatonin "The causes of cluster headache are still unknown; the temporal pattern of the cluster periods suggest the involvement of central structures in particular the hypothalamus, which regulates circadian rhythms. The pineal gland through melatonin secretion plays a central part in the circadian organisation of biological rhythms. Evidence obtained in animals suggests that the pineal gland and melatonin may be related to the regulation of core body temperature. Dependent on the species considered, melatonin has a part in the generation of seasonal rhythms of daily torpor and hibernation, in heat stress tolerance, and in setting the core body temperature set point. In human beings, the circadian rhythm of melatonin is closely associated with that of core body temperature, the nocturnal decline of this temperature being inversely related to the rise of melatonin.2 Chazot and colleagues3 reported lower melatonin concentrations in cluster-headache patients than in controls. Waldenlind and colleagues4 also show lower concentrations in the cluster period than remission. Increased body heat might precipitate cluster-headache attacks by alteration of melatonin concentrations, leading to hypothalamic dysregulation and chronobiological dysfunction. These findings also support a therapeutic option of melatonin in the prophylaxis of cluster headache5." http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2805%2972062-6/fulltext bobb
    1 point
×
×
  • Create New...