
Figure 4. Midsaggital view of the brain showing the Trigeminovascular pathway that is activated by an abrupt drop in estrogen.
The following may be considered indications for prophylactic migraine therapy:
Migraine variants, such as hemiplegic migraine or rare headache attacks producing profound disruption or risk for permanent neurologic injury
Migraine headache days amount to at least two per month with moderate or worse disability
The headaches cause major disruptions in the patient's lifestyle
Abortive therapy fails or is overused
Symptomatic medications are contraindicated or ineffective
Use of abortive medications more than twice a week
The goals of preventive therapy include:
Reduce attack frequency, severity, and/or duration
Improve responsiveness to acute attacks
Reduce disability
Reduce reliance on suboptimal drug treatments
Reduce costs
Offer patients a feeling of control and improve health-related quality of life
Reduce distress and other psychological problems associated with headache
Learn more about prophylactic migraine therapies.
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Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
Cite this: Helmi L. Lutsep. Fast Five Quiz: Migraine Prevention and Treatment - Medscape - Feb 04, 2022.
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