A Publication of the East Bay Headache Support Group
A Member of the Americal Council for Headache Education (ACHE) Support Group Network  

VoLUME 10, ISSUE 4  
JULY 2005

July 12, 2005 Meeting: 

Treating Headaches; The New Paradigm—Ancient Medicine with Modern Science

Duncan Macdonald, a licensed acupuncturist, will speak to the East Bay Headache Support Group on July 12.  According to Macdonald, acupuncture is a safe and natural therapy for regulating neuro-vascular tone and reducing the incidence of headaches.  A large study published in the British Medical Journal in March 2004 declared that “Acupuncture leads to persisting, clinically relevant benefits for primary care patients with chronic headaches, particularly migraine.”  However, a lot of misunderstanding surrounds the use of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, leaving many headache sufferers wondering what role it should play in their treatment. 

Topics covered in the lecture will include how acupuncture works, the safety of acupuncture and herbal medicine, how do these therapies integrate with standard medical care, how to find a qualified acupuncturist, and what to expect from treatment.  Bring all your questions regarding acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, and complementary and alternative medicine as a whole.  As a personal sufferer of chronic headaches, Duncan Macdonald understands the impact they have on quality of life.  That is why he has dedicated a significant portion of his professional practice to the understanding and treatment of chronic headaches.  Traditional Chinese medicine offers a holistic and comprehensive approach to treating headaches, including acupuncture, herbal medicine, dietary counseling, exercise therapy, and meditation.

Duncan Macdonald, L.Ac., began his study of acupuncture and traditional Asian medicine while living in Japan in 1994.  In 1999 he graduated from the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in San Francisco.  He is one of 200 acupuncturists in the country who have completed both board specialties in orthopedics and internal medicine, and he currently sits on the board of the National Board of Acupuncture and Internal Medicine.  In 2003 Duncan Macdonald co-founded Secara, a professional integrative medicine products company.  He currently divides his time between private practice in San Francisco and training other healthcare professionals on the integrative use of herbal medicine.

Join us in the Sterns Conference Room at John Muir Medical Center from 7:30 to 9:00 pm on Tuesday, July 12.  Take the stairs or elevator to the lower level and follow the signs.  Call Leslie Davis at 925-685-8775 for more information.

Future Meetings:

September 13, 2005:  Michael Stein, M.D.,  “Talk It Over Night”

November 10, 2005:  To be determined.

Migraine Calculator Debuts

Employers will be able to calculate how much employees’ migraines are costing their business, thanks to a new “migraine calculator” from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).  The calculator, developed by consulting firm HSM Group of Scottsdale, AZ estimates both the incidence of migraine and its financial impact based on the company’s size, type of industry, locations, and age and gender of employees.  It also projects the potential net savings the company can expect if employees obtain treatment, taking the cost of treatment into account.  The calculator “is an important tool that allows employers to see the whole picture on the economics and value of getting patients with migraines needed treatment,” said HSM Group President Sheryl Bronkesh.  The migraine calculator is available at

http://www.migrainecalculator.com/Welcome.asp


Headaches?  Do They Interfere With Life?

A charter member and volunteer for our support group, Richard T., likes to play around with numbers.  He and I were commiserating recently about the time we have lost to headaches, and Richard came up with the following scenario.  Consider this:

If a person began experiencing headaches at age 25 and they recurred every 2 weeks, by the time this person reached 75, how many headaches would he have endured?

This computes to 26 headaches in a year, and if each lasted a day and he had this condition for 50 years, the total number of headache days would be 1,300.

What does this 1,300 number represent?  It means that 3.56 years of his lifetime would be spent suffering from head pain, and not being a productive member of society.  He may have to stay home in bed instead of going to work, or have to work at a reduced capacity.  His family and social life would definitely suffer. 

Richard suggested that we should not just endure the headaches, but instead take action so that we don’t waste all those headache days.

The East Bay Headache Support Group was created almost 10 years ago and still exists today because many people can relate to this scenario.  By attending the free meetings we can learn about the latest medical treatments available, both to prevent headaches and to abort them—relieving the pain and other symptoms.  We are also exposed to alternative treatments, and lifestyle changes, that may help reduce our headache frequency and severity.

In the next column I have included excerpts from an article on the benefits of support groups, found on the Web site of the American Council for Headache Education (ACHE) at www.achenet.org.

By Leslie Davis, Editor


Support Groups for Headache Sufferers

If you suffer from chronic headaches (i.e., you get a headache more than 15 days per month), you may have had the feeling from time to time that you’re “all alone” or that “no one understands” how much these headaches affect your life.  You aren’t alone, of course.  In fact, there are millions of people like you, and many of them find comfort and understanding by participating in headache support groups.

According to Dr. Seymour Diamond, Executive Director of the National Headache Foundation, support groups provide a valuable forum in which patients can help one another.  He says, “I think that the fact that patients can relate to fellow patients...emphasizes the importance of support groups.  A support group gives patients a feeling of participation—that  help is available—so that they can communicate their own experiences.…”  In addition, support groups give patients an opportunity to discuss behavioral problems and solutions, topics which doctors and patients often have little time to discuss.

Participating in a headache support group helps in other ways too:

You are able to meet and discuss common problems, share your feelings with fellow sufferers, and learn more about managing and coping with chronic headaches.

Participating in a support group can help diminish the emotional stress caused by chronic headache pain.

It’s an opportunity to meet with people who know exactly what you mean when you talk about your pain or the problems it causes in your life.

It’s a place where you can express yourself in a non-judgmental environment.

 
Organizations like the American Council for Headache Education (ACHE) and the National Headache Foundation (NHF) operate networks of support groups around the country. 

Editor’s Note:  The East Bay Headache Support Group is under the auspices of ACHE, and currently our medical advisor, Dr. Michael Stein, is on ACHE’s board as its Support Group Chair.

Do support groups really work?  According to ACHE, the best evidence that they do is that people come even when they have a headache.  Ms. Marcia Seawell, Support Group Coordinator for ACHE, adds, “For most people, it’s comfortable to speak because they’re talking to people who know what headache pain is all about.  They’re in an understanding and accepting group of people.  For some people it may be the first time that they’ve felt the freedom to talk about their pain, and some may have suffered for decades.  It’s a place to learn, be supported and be encouraged to cope, knowing that the group is rooting for them.”

Seeking Research Volunteers

 Dr. Michael R. Stein with Neurological Research Institute of the East Bay is currently recruiting for Research Volunteers for the following studies:

·        Adolescent Migraine Headaches (ages 12-17)

·        Menstrually-Related Migraine Headaches

 All qualified participants will receive study medication and medical care at no cost during participation and may be eligible for reimbursement of travel expenses and follow-up care.

If you or someone you care about suffers from migraine headaches and may be interested in participating or would like more information, please call 925-465-5454 and our friendly clinical research staff will be able to assist you.

New Data Reveals Weather Can Trigger a Migraine

 

Headache, a peer-reviewed journal published on behalf of the American Headache Society, features the most carefully done study on the influence of weather patterns on headache.  The study, conducted over a two-year period by Patricia Bireneau Prince, M.D., and a number of headache specialists at The New England Center for Headache in Stamford, CT, concluded that 51% of patients with headache were affected by weather, although a higher percentage of patients thought they were.  Patients were not always able to accurately pinpoint their trigger.  It is known that various trigger factors, like wine, chocolate, caffeine, stress and changes in sleep, can set off a migraine attack in susceptible sufferers.

 

The study delved into the effects of weather patterns on headache as well as investigating whether or not patients could predict their own sensitivity to weather, and which weather patterns were most significant.  The majority of headache sufferers in this study believed that certain weather patterns affected their headaches, while the weather triggers they reported did not correspond to the weather tracked in the analysis.  Interestingly, of the migraine sufferers affected by weather, it was clear that they were sensitive to a combination of temperature and humidity changes.  The most common factor affecting patients was low temperature and humidity or high temperature and humidity.  The second was major changes in the weather over a 1-2 day period and the third was high or low barometer.  Several patients were sensitive to more than one factor.

 

Identifying trigger factors, such as weather, is important as it can lead to preventive strategies such as trigger avoidance or taking acute care medications very early in the attack or even in advance, states Prince.  The study findings demonstrate that there is a relationship between weather and migraine, and provides another piece of information on migraine triggers.  Based on the data, patients and their physicians can track weather patterns and personal sensitivity, which may help sufferers prevent the onset of a  migraine in many situations.  0

 

Found on the Web site of the American Headache Society at www.ahsnet.org.

Editor’s Note:  Recently we included the following Emergency Room Treatment Form in our newsletter.  A number of people commented that it was helpful, so here it is again.

This is a slightly condensed version of an Emergency Room Treatment Form created by the National Headache Foundation (http://www.headaches.org).  If sometimes you have to visit an emergency room to get relief from your debilitating headaches, cut out this form, have your doctor complete and sign it, and carry it in your wallet.  This could make your next Emergency Room visit easier.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Physician-Provided

Emergency Room

Treatment Form

 

This form is being provided to assist you in treating my patient who is a diagnosed _________ headache sufferer.

My patient sometimes experiences _________ headaches so severe he/she requires emergency treatment.  _________ headache is a chronic, recurring neurological disease which is treatable.  My patient is not a “drug seeker” or substance abuser.  My patient uses the prescription(s) listed below to provide abortive and/or preventive treatment for ________ headache.  Unfortunately, some ________ headache episodes may require treatment beyond the current prescribed regimen.  My patient may need pain relief medications to treat this episode.

Patient Diagnosis and Treatment Information

Patient Name_________________________________________________________________________

Date of Birth_________________________________________________________________________

Date of diagnosis_____________________________________________________________________

Date of last visit______________________________________________________________________

Current abortive medication(s)__________________________________________________________

Current preventive medication(s)_________________________________________________________

Other pain medications_________________________________________________________________

Prescription(s) proven ineffective for my patient’s headache treatment:

____________________________________________________________________________________

Medication allergies___________________________________________________________________

For my patient’s emergency treatment, I suggest the following medication(s)

________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for reviewing this important information and treating my patient.  My patient has a legitimate headache condition and is not visiting the emergency room to obtain narcotics or other medications under false pretenses.


__________________________________      ___________

Doctor’s Signature                                      Date

______________      _______________________________

Office Phone        Office Address

 

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The intention of the East Bay Headache Support Group is to provide information and resources.  It does not provide medical advice, which should be obtained directly from a physician.