The journal of headache and pain
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Recent advances in migraine research have shown that the cerebral cortex serves a primary role in the pathogenesis of migraine. Since aberrant brain activity in migraine can be noninvasively detected with magnetoencephalography (MEG), The object of this study was to investigate the resting state cortical activity differences between migraineurs and controls and its related clinical characteristics. ⋯ The results demonstrated that migraine subjects in resting state had significantly aberrant ictal brain activity that can be measured with neuromagnetic imaging techniques. The findings may facilitate the development of new therapeutic strategies in migraine treatment via alterations in cortical excitability with TMS and other medications in the future.
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Medication-overuse headache (MOH) is often comorbid with emotional disturbances, contributing to poorer outcomes. The aims of the present study were to assess the psychometric properties of the Stagnation Scale in a sample of MOH patients, and to compare two factor models: a three-factor model reported in previous studies and a proposed bi-factor model. ⋯ There is support for the use of the Stagnation Scale in MOH patients, with the goal of better understanding the role of psychological factors in the evolution and course of the disorder.
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Migraine is a stress-related disorder, suggesting that there may be sympathetic hyperactivity in migraine patients. However, there are contradictory results concerning general sympathetic activation in migraine patients. To shed more light on the involvement of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in migraine pathophysiology, we investigated cardiac and cardiovascular reactions during vagal (paced breathing) and sympathetic activation (mental stress test). ⋯ Generally there were no significant differences between migraine patients and controls concerning the measured autonomic parameters. There was a slight but not significant tendency in the migraine patients to react with less vagal and more sympathetic activation in all these tests, indicating a slightly changed set point of the autonomic system. Heart rate variability and blood pressure in migraine patients should be investigated for longer periods and during more demanding sympathetic activation.
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Alexithymia is a personality construct characterized by difficulties in verbal emotional expression and a limited ability to use one's imagination. Evidence of alexithymic characteristics was found in adults suffering from headache, while little is known about children. The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence of alexithymia in two different subgroups of children and adolescents suffering from primary headache. We also looked for correlation between alexithymia in children and in their mothers. ⋯ To date no other study has investigated alexithymia in subgroups of primary headaches in developmental age. Our results suggest that patients suffering from TTH are more alexithymic than M patients. This pave the way to etiopathogenetic and clinical considerations, calling for a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to tackle the problem of headache.
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Observational Study
Productivity losses attributable to headache, and their attempted recovery, in a heavy-manufacturing workforce in Turkey: implications for employers and politicians.
Headache disorders cause substantial productivity losses through absenteeism and impaired effectiveness at work (presenteeism). We had previously found these losses to be high in a mostly male, heavy-manufacturing workforce at Ford Otomotiv Sanayi AŞ (FO), in north-western Turkey. Here we aimed to confirm this finding in a year-long study to eliminate any effect of seasonal variation. The question then was how much of this lost productivity could be recovered by the effective provision of headache care. ⋯ The high productivity losses in this young mostly male workforce correlated with but were not wholly explained by headache frequency. A small minority of employees with high-frequency headache contributed highly disproportionately to the productivity losses. These should be the target of interventions aimed at productivity recovery. It is not clear what form such interventions should take: making headache care optimally available is not of itself sufficient.