Health rising forum post, by Cort Johnson, 11 April 2017: Migraine Summit Poses Opportunities For Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients
A Different Kind of Summit
Online Health Summits have become something of a big deal over the past couple of years. They provide patients free access (if they watch them each day) to ideas and therapies they might not have. They’ve also become somewhat predictable in their lineups of alternative health MD’s and practitioners.
The “Worldwide Migraine Summit” from April 23rd-29th is different. It’s got some alternative health practitioners but it’s also packed with doctors from prestigious institutions such as the Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic, UCLA and the Harvard Medical School. Eleven neurologists and four directors of University Departments are speaking.
With support from major non-profit groups such as The American Migraine Foundation, the National Headache Foundation and The Migraine Trust, this Summit is different indeed.
The lead talk on the “Top Ten Myths of Migraine” by a Professor of Neurology will almost explode the myth that migraine is rare. The 2013 Global Burden of Disease Study found that migraine was the sixth highest cause worldwide of years lost due to disability (YLD). Over 36 million Americans are effected. About 15% of women and 6% of men are believed to suffer from migraine and that number goes up considerably for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
The Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Migraine Connection
A large Spanish study found that over 50% of fibromyalgia (FM) patients met the criteria for migraine – and many of them likely had no idea that they had this affliction. (More FM patients met the criteria for migraine than for chronic fatigue syndrome.) The penalty for having fibromyalgia and migraine was a harsh one as well which included significantly increased risks of also having chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and depression as well as hypertension (p<.004), asthma (p<.01), irritable bowel syndrome (p<.02), and PTSD (p<.005).
Dr. Baraniuk, a chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), Gulf War Illness and FM researcher believes similar brain issues may underlie all these diseases. Baraniuk has even used migraine medications successfully in ME/CFS patients who don’t have migraines.
Other doctors have found treatments used for migraine helpful in ME/CFS/FM as well. Dr. Katherine Downing-Orr and Dr Goldstein before her, uses nimodipine, a calcium channel blocker often used for migraine relief, in her treatment protocol for ME/CFS. Dr. Teitelbaum uses magnesium, a popular supplement in FM and ME/CFS, to help his patients with migraines.
