Clue to migraine headache cause

First, timing was crucial: to capture an attack as it happened, patients rushed to hospital without self-medicating, arriving on average around three hours after the onset of the migraine.

Second, the observed headaches were spontaneous, and not chemically induced as in other laboratory studies.

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk Scientists may be a step closer to uncovering the cause of certain types of debilitating migraine headaches. A French team observed activation in the hypothalamus region of the brain as sufferers had a migraine attack. The hypothalamus has long been suspected as it regulates physiological responses to factors known to trigger headaches, such as hunger. It is hoped the discovery, featured in the journal Headache, could lead to new treatments. The researchers, from Rangueil Hospital, used a technique called Positron Emission Tomography (PET), which contrasts functional activity within the brain, on seven patients with migraine without aura, the most common type of migraine. Previously, activation in the brain stem and midbrain, and a thickening in some areas of the cortex were seen in migraine sufferers. The present study may have seen a more detailed pathogenesis of the condition for two reasons.