Scientists have discovered a correlation between higher temperatures and an increase in headaches for people who suffer from migraines. According to Vincent Martin, the director of the Headache and Facial Pain Center at the University of Cincinnati, weather changes are among the most frequent triggers for migraine attacks. As temperatures climb, the likelihood of experiencing migraine episodes also rises.
A recent study examined the effectiveness of the drug Fremanezumab in preventing headaches triggered by high temperatures. Fremanezumab, which is delivered via subcutaneous injection, is part of a group of monoclonal antibodies introduced in the last six years for managing migraines. Researchers analyzed 71,030 daily diary entries from 660 migraine patients along with local weather data. The study revealed that with every 0.12-degree Celsius rise in temperature, there was a 6% increase in the likelihood of experiencing any type of headache. This finding sheds light on the potential link between temperature changes and headache occurrence in migraine sufferers.
However, during the periods of Fremanezumab treatment, the association completely disappeared.
“This study is the first to suggest that migraine-specific therapies that block Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP) may treat weather-associated headaches." said Fred Cohen, a study co-author and assistant professor of medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.
If the results are confirmed in future studies, the drug therapy has the potential to help many people with weather-triggered migraine. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, believed that weather and medicine were intimately linked.
"A couple thousand of years later, we are proving that weather matters in human health." said Al Peterlin, who retired as chief meteorologist at the US Department of Agriculture and co-author of the study.
The findings from the study were set to be presented at the American Headache Society's 66th annual scientific meeting in San Diego, California, over the weekend.
(with IANS inputs)
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