Migraine is one of the most common headaches. It is a chronic and incurable neurologic disease that affects a significant percentage of the population, but which can be treated when duly diagnosed, as it was explained by Ivânia Alves , Hospital da Luz neurologist, in an interview to Porto Canal. “It is estimated that 12% to 16% of the population has migraine. It is an invisible disease, in the sense that there are no tests or exams to reveal it. The diagnosis is essentially clinical: symptoms have to be evaluated and corresponded to a number of criteria”, stated the neurologist, adding that this is “a neurologic disease not defined by merely a sporadic crisis – meaning that it involves multiple and repeated episodes of a pain (pulsatile or throbbing), usually felt on one side of the head, which may alternate between left or right”. That pain is generally associated with an intolerance to sensorial stimuli, such as noises, light, smells, movement, and in some cases nausea or even vomit. There are cases of low-frequency migraine, which can be controlled with “SOS medication”. The problem is when there is high-frequency or chronic migraine, with several crises in a month or even in a week. “Migraine can be very incapacitating”, highlighted the doctor, who further described the different types of therapy already available. Ivânia Alves on Porto Canal
