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According to research published in Nature Medicine, researchers have identified a gene that acts as a pain thermostat in the brain. An international study, including scientists at Oxford University, found that a gene called TRESK appears to be fundamental in causing migraines. It is believed that it controls the sensitivity of pain nerves in the brain and if faulty can bring the threshold so low that just living is painful.
This is why migraine sufferers are so sensitive to light, sounds and even touch. Until now, the genes responsible have been unknown.
A migraine is a severe, long-lasting headache usually felt as a throbbing pain at the front or on one side of the head.
Some people can have a warning visual “sign” before the start of the headache called an aura and many people also have symptoms, such as nausea and sensitivity to light during the headache itself. Scientists from Canada and Britain looked at the DNA make up of 110 migraine sufferers and their families. They found that a mutation in the TRESK gene appeared to be key cause of the condition – which is also hereditary.
The discovery was exciting because TRESK controls the sensitivity of pain nerves in the trigeminal ganglion, an area at the base of the brain. This gene is also susceptible to being switched on and off with drugs which means that it could be altered to increase the threshold to such an extent it eliminates the feeling of pain altogether.
The discovery of the gene means that scientists have a whole new pathway to controlling pain. Whereas painkillers work by numbing pain, this could effectively make the body immune to it.
Lee Tomkin, director of Migraine Action, said: “This is almost a red letter day for migraine sufferers. It is fantastic news and has a lot of implications. This is genuinely a really great step forward.”

Researchers have discovered the first common gene linked to migraine risk, according to their report in Nature Genetics. The researchers compared DNA samples from 2,731 migraine sufferers to 10,747 otherwise similar subjects, examining more than 400,000 DNA sequences per participant. A variation in only one sequence, on the long arm of chromosome 8, appeared to have any effect on the debilitating condition.
The researchers confirmed their initial findings by examining this sequence in another 3,202 people with migraine and 40,062 controls. Overall, 24.3% of migraine sufferers and 20.6% of on-sufferers carried the variant-an 18% higher rate for sufferers. The sequence’s location, between two genes that help regulate the neurotransmitter glutamate, provides fresh clues for understanding and treating migraine.

Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome (CVS) has long been regarded as a migraine equivalent disorder. It is manifested by attacks that carry the whole mark of migraine, except for the absence of headache. (Fleisher and Matar, 1993; Abu-Arafeh and Russell, 1995).
Children between the ages of 4 and 15 were studied in Scotland using well-defined clinical criteria for the diagnosis of both CVS and migraine. Although severity, frequency, and duration of CVS attacks may vary considerably, the symptoms are in a comparable pattern to childhood migraine. Emphasis has been placed on the similar clinical features including the complete resolution of symptoms between attacks and the almost identical provoking and relieving factors (Wyllie and Schlesinger, 1993; Cullen and MacDonald, 1963).
The common typical diagnostic features of CVS are manifested by recurrent, sudden, and self-limiting attacks during which the child looks ill and miserable, with complaints of nausea, vomiting, pallor, and lethargy. The duration of vomiting episodes is from hours to days, with the average length of episode being 24 hours. The intervals of normal health between episodes vary. In this study the mean age of onset of CVS was 5, with the majority of cases (72%) starting in early childhood. Each episode is similar within individuals as to time of onset, intensity, duration and frequency. Similar to migraine, attacks of CVS may be precipitated by travel, stress, excitement, tiredness, and lack of sleep, but this is only in the minority of children who can identify a trigger factor. The attacks may be preceded by non-specific changes in mood and behavior and sensory aura symptoms.
It is very important that the diagnosis of CVS should only be made on the exclusion of other, more serious disorders that require specific investigations and treatment. The goals of management of acute CVS are to prevent dehydration, replace fluid loss, relieve pain and provide general supportive measures. Most children can be safely treated at home. Additionally Pizotifen, used successfully in the treatment of migraine, has had some success in reducing the frequency and severity of CVS and abdominal migraine attacks.
In addition to treatment and the closely related clinical features, along with other similar characteristics, it is strongly suggested that the two disorders represent an extended disease spectrum.

A recent study conducted by Dr John-Anker Zwart, MD,PhD at the University of Oslo, found that teens who regularly have headaches may find that their problem is linked to overweight, smoking and/or lack of physical exercise.
The article, published in the medical journal, Neurology, found teens with all three factors were 3.4 times more likely to suffer from recurring headaches, compared to individuals of their age who did not smoke, were physically active and were not overweight.
This study revealed that of the teens with all three negative lifestyle factors, 55% had frequent headaches. Furthermore, teens with two negative factors were 1.8 times more likely to have recurring headaches.
Teenagers who had one negative lifestyle trait were affected as follows:
• Overweight teens were 40% more likely to have recurring headaches than their peers with no negative factors.
• Teen who smoke regularly were 50% more likely to have recurring headaches than their peers with no negative factors.
• Teens who exercised less than twice a week were 20% more likely to have recurring headaches than their peers with no negative factors.
This study involved almost 6,000 students, 13 to 18 years of age. The study author suggests that treatment and prevention of headaches in teenagers should perhaps include management of healthy lifestyle habits, such as regular physical activity, good diet, and cessation of smoking.

A recent study conducted by Dr John-Anker Zwart, MD,PhD at the University of Oslo, found that teens who regularly have headaches may find that their problem is linked to overweight, smoking and/or lack of physical exercise.
The article, published in the medical journal, Neurology, found teens with all three factors were 3.4 times more likely to suffer from recurring headaches, compared to individuals of their age who did not smoke, were physically active and were not overweight.
This study revealed that of the teens with all three negative lifestyle factors, 55% had frequent headaches. Furthermore, teens with two negative factors were 1.8 times more likely to have recurring headaches.
Teenagers who had one negative lifestyle trait were affected as follows:
• Overweight teens were 40% more likely to have recurring headaches than their peers with no negative factors.
• Teen who smoke regularly were 50% more likely to have recurring headaches than their peers with no negative factors.
• Teens who exercised less than twice a week were 20% more likely to have recurring headaches than their peers with no negative factors.
This study involved almost 6,000 students, 13 to 18 years of age. The study author suggests that treatment and prevention of headaches in teenagers should perhaps include management of healthy lifestyle habits, such as regular physical activity, good diet, and cessation of smoking.

A recent study conducted by Dr John-Anker Zwart, MD,PhD at the University of Oslo, found that teens who regularly have headaches may find that their problem is linked to overweight, smoking and/or lack of physical exercise.
The article, published in the medical journal, Neurology, found teens with all three factors were 3.4 times more likely to suffer from recurring headaches, compared to individuals of their age who did not smoke, were physically active and were not overweight.
This study revealed that of the teens with all three negative lifestyle factors, 55% had frequent headaches. Furthermore, teens with two negative factors were 1.8 times more likely to have recurring headaches.
Teenagers who had one negative lifestyle trait were affected as follows:
• Overweight teens were 40% more likely to have recurring headaches than their peers with no negative factors.
• Teen who smoke regularly were 50% more likely to have recurring headaches than their peers with no negative factors.
• Teens who exercised less than twice a week were 20% more likely to have recurring headaches than their peers with no negative factors.
This study involved almost 6,000 students, 13 to 18 years of age. The study author suggests that treatment and prevention of headaches in teenagers should perhaps include management of healthy lifestyle habits, such as regular physical activity, good diet, and cessation of smoking.

A recent study conducted by Dr John-Anker Zwart, MD,PhD at the University of Oslo, found that teens who regularly have headaches may find that their problem is linked to overweight, smoking and/or lack of physical exercise.
The article, published in the medical journal, Neurology, found teens with all three factors were 3.4 times more likely to suffer from recurring headaches, compared to individuals of their age who did not smoke, were physically active and were not overweight.
This study revealed that of the teens with all three negative lifestyle factors, 55% had frequent headaches. Furthermore, teens with two negative factors were 1.8 times more likely to have recurring headaches.
Teenagers who had one negative lifestyle trait were affected as follows:
• Overweight teens were 40% more likely to have recurring headaches than their peers with no negative factors.
• Teen who smoke regularly were 50% more likely to have recurring headaches than their peers with no negative factors.
• Teens who exercised less than twice a week were 20% more likely to have recurring headaches than their peers with no negative factors.
This study involved almost 6,000 students, 13 to 18 years of age. The study author suggests that treatment and prevention of headaches in teenagers should perhaps include management of healthy lifestyle habits, such as regular physical activity, good diet, and cessation of smoking.

The efficacy of cannabis to relieve cluster headache is still uncertain, according to a study discussed in the August 2010 issue of Neurology Reviews. Elizabeth Leroux, MD of the Emergency Headache Center in Paris studied 139 patients who presented with cluster headache, to determine the frequency of cannabis use as well as its effect on headache attacks. 27 of these patients had specifically tried cannabis in an attempt to treat their cluster headaches, while fewer than 30% of those studied avoided marijuana use during a headache attack.
The investigators stated that “substance use should be addressed when caring for cluster headache patients to prevent complications from use and potential interactions with prescription drugs. The therapeutic potential of cannabis for cluster headaches is to be considered on a scientific basis, but mixed results observed by patients suggest that structured trials with synthetic, selective cannabinoids should be the way to investigate this topic further.”