Headache
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New treatments are needed to treat chronic daily headache (CDH) and chronic cluster headache (CCH). New treatments are needed to treat this population and intravenous (IV) lidocaine is a novel treatment for CDH. ⋯ This study suggests benefit of lidocaine treatment and the need for further prospective analyses. The mechanism of lidocaine in treating headache is unknown.
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Despite the high level of individual and societal burden resulting from headache disorders, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has funded relatively little research on these disorders. ⋯ A small number of research grants on headache disorders were funded by the NIH over the last 2 decades, with 2007 funding estimated between $6.8 and $13 million. By comparison to NIH funding of research on 10 chronic medical conditions relative to disease burden, headache research funding should exceed $103 million annually.
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The protein s100b indicates astrocytal damage as well as dysfunction of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) is regarded as a marker for neuronal cell loss. Recently, s100b was shown to be a potentially useful marker for migraine in children. In this study, we investigated the levels of s100b and NSE in adult migraineurs during and after migraine attacks in order to gain some more insight into migraine pathophysiology. ⋯ Our data suggest a prolonged disruption of BBB during and after migraine attacks. Other possible explanations concerning the detected serum levels of s100b and NSE will be discussed; however, neuronal cell death can be ruled out by the decreased serum concentrations of NSE. With regard to the results of the present study, further research is necessary to evaluate the role of s100b and NSE in migraine.