Migraine

igraine is a primary chronic-intermittent headache disorder that affects Ϸ12% of the population, with women being 3 to 4 times more likely to have migraine than men at any given age. 1 Migraine typically starts before age 40, and its 1-year prevalence peaks in midlife.The pain character is moderate to severe and of pulsating quality, and headache attacks are accompanied by various combinations of gastrointestinal, autonomic nervous system dysfunction, as well as sensitivity to light and sound.In some patients, transient neurological symptoms occur that mostly involve the visual field and include flickering light, light spots or lines, or partial vision loss but can also involve the sensory or motor system.These symptoms, known as migraine aura, usually last for Ͻ30 minutes and affect as many as one third of migraine patients.The pathophysiology of migraine has been explored in detail, and it is known that a dysfunction of brain cells and brain arteries is a major component of this disorder.