Migraine is one of the 20 most debilitating conditions in the world; 15% of people in Mexico suffer from it
Carolina Gomez Mena
The newspaper La Jornada
Friday, September 13, 2024, p. 8
Migraine, a pathology characterized by severe headaches, is among the 20 most debilitating diseases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In Mexico, this condition affects women to a greater extent; of the total number of those who suffer from it, 70 percent are women.
In the country, 15 percent of the population suffers from migraine, a disease with social and work-related repercussions, because it forces those who experience it to abandon their daily activities due to intense and recurrent crises, said Javier Galnares Olalde, a specialist assigned to the Headache Clinic of the Manuel Velasco Suárez National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery of the Ministry of Health (Ssa).
The WHO reports that the Global Burden of Disease Study found that migraine alone was the sixth leading cause of years lost due to disability worldwide, and headaches collectively were the third leading cause.
The international organization details that migraine is a primary headache that usually appears during puberty and mainly affects the age group between 35 and 45 years.
“It is twice as common among women as among men due to hormonal influences and is caused by the activation of a brain mechanism that leads to the release of inflammatory and pain-causing substances around the nerves and blood vessels of the head. Migraine, as it is also known, is recurrent, often lifelong and is characterized by recurring episodes.
On the occasion of the International Day Against Migraine, Galnares Olalde explained that patients with migraine feel an intense pulsation on one side of the head. The pain can last from four hours to five days; it prevents them from carrying out their daily activities, it gets worse with lights and noise and can cause nausea and vomiting, forcing them to seek refuge in a quiet, dark place.
She warned that migraine has no cure, does not respect age or social status; it begins to manifest in women after their first menstruation and in men between 10 and 14 years of age.
In Mexico, between one and two in every 10 people suffer from it, but only 8 percent go to a neurologist, the specialist indicated to treat it, and 54 percent self-medicate or resort to home remedies.
Migraine peaks between the ages of 30 and 39; in women it intensifies before menopause and between the ages of 50 and 60 its intensity and frequency decreases.
Factors such as stress, poor eating habits, lack of sleep, prolonged fasting, tobacco, noise, pollution, food and drinks such as cheese, chocolate, tomatoes and alcohol can be triggers. Migraine is not a direct cause of death; but it can develop into a migraine infarction, a severe complication that ends in a cerebral infarction.
